Google Chrome Celebrates Turning Two With 6 Update

It was two years ago this week that Google unveiled its browser experiment Chrome. In the ensuing 24 months, it's matured immensely and gone gold on both OS X and Linux, to complement its official Windows version. The browser has added bookmark and password syncing, support for themes and extensions, and, most importantly, significant speed increases. According to Google, today's Chrome is a full three times faster than the original iteration when it comes to executing JavaScript (the technology behind all those Web apps you've come to know and love like Gmail).

Now, on its second birthday, Chrome is hitting version 6. (By comparison, Firefox is several years older, and still crawling towards 4.0.) And, in celebration, Chrome is receiving a few small upgrades. Most immediately apparent will be the mild redesign that reduces clutter and adds a bit of polish to its appearance. The browser has also undergone another series of speed boosts, firmly leaving most of the competition in its dust in terms of raw speed. Thanks to its included auto-update features, anyone running the stable version of Chrome should already have 6, while those who like to live life on the bleeding edge (i.e. running the developer's build) are already getting a sneak peak at version 7. Chrome has come a long way in a short period of time. What started as an experiment in pure speed has become one of the most compelling options, if not the option, in the browser market.

If you don't have it yet, download Chrome 6 here.

Tags: browsers, chrome, Chrome 6, Chrome6, google chrome, GoogleChrome, top, web