Report: Google Chrome 'coming out of beta'

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10120049-2.html

Google's Chrome Web browser is coming out of beta testing, according to a TechCrunch report Wednesday.
Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of user experience, told TechCrunch's Mike Arrington as much in an interview at Le Web 08, according to the report. However, there was no word about when the move might take place.

One possibility would be to announce it Thursday at Add-on-Con, a conference about browser extensions at which Nick Baum, a product manager on Google Chrome, is scheduled to speak on a panel about the future of Web browsers. Also on the panel are Joshua Allen, senior technical evangelist for Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and Mike Shaver, vice president of engineering for Firefox builder Mozilla.

Taking the browser out of beta would doubtless fulfill Google's ambition to let business partners, such as computer makers, bundle Chrome on their systems. Google launched the first beta version in September.
However, Chrome is still rough around the edges to be a version 1.0 product. New Chrome developer releases arrive frequently to stamp out bugs. Hotmail only works with Chrome if users launch it with a particular command-line option to fool Microsoft's e-mail site into thinking it's not using Chrome. And at least for me, even Google's own Google's Zeitgeist 2008 Web site doesn't work properly in Chrome: the country-specific pop-ups are cut off at the bottom of the browser view. (The same pop-up issue arises in Internet Explorer and Safari, but not in Firefox.)

Also, although Chrome has been in development internally at Google for years, it's curious that the company would take Chrome out of beta when it's resisted the impulse to do the same with Gmail and several other high-profile projects.

Chrome works only on Windows for now, though Google is working on a Mac version and a Linux version.
Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Separately, Arrington reported that Mayer said Google plans to include an option in the first quarter of 2009 to turn off the new SearchWiki feature, which lets people customize their own search results.

 

hotmail works fine with chrome for me?

thats odd.

 

Yeah read story on LH. Good stuff.

 

I wonder if they'll ever take GMail out of beta...

 

Seems unlikely...

 

I was just going to say how did this beat Gmail out of beta.

 

Because Chrome wants to come pre-installed on pc's like IE is. They can't do that unless they are out of BETA.

 

^Will MS allow,their OS come with Chrome. I doubt they would..Unless Google is planning to make a OS for the computer with Android are they??..

 

Google Earth is still in BETA.

Everything they make is in BETA as a fall back excuse.

 

lol thats pretty smart IMO. then that way they are never at fault haha

 

It's not Microsoft's say whether or not Chrome comes pre-installed, it's the OEM's. And Android is for mobile phones...Rumors have it Google is going to make their own OS...possibly. :O

 

I am not sure about the Google OS...
Thing about Google is that everything they do is slip streamed, fast and efficient and most importantly SIMPLE!
OSs arent simple things, I think Google knows this and if they would make anything I would expect them to make something similiar to the Asus Express Gate.
I dont think Google would put them selves in a position like that which would compromise almost all of their core values...
But what would be extremely interesting imo is if Google created a department of Linux Developers and made a google version of it all... I dont think they would start from nothing...