Google finalises features for Chrome 6

Barry Collins Read more July 22, 2010

Extension synchronisation and an even cleaner menu system are two of the new features Google will include in Chrome 6.

Version 6 of the browser – which was only launched in September 2008 – is already being distributed to members of the Google Chrome dev channel, although the changes made in each new version of Chrome are decidedly less significant than those of other browsers.

Enhancements to browser synchronisation are key among the changes in version 6. Chrome already allows users to synchronise bookmarks, preferences and themes across different computers. Chrome 6 will let users synchronise browser extensions and web history too, making the process of moving from one PC to another even easier.

Google is also making its already Spartan browser interface even cleaner, by consolidating the two tool and page buttons into one menu. It follows a similar move by Mozilla with Firefox 4, which brings all the menu setting under one ‘Firefox’ button.

The browser’s performance should be enhanced by improvements to scalable vector graphics handling and background image resampling.

However, one feature that hasn’t made the cut according to a report on CNet is Print Preview, which has been a staple of most of the other major browsers for some time.

Although Google originally intended to include this feature in version 6, it’s now been bumped back to Chrome 7. Which probably means we can expect to see it before the end of the year, given Google’s breakneck blast through the version numbers…