Google's Chrome 8: What's New

Google Chrome 8, now rolling out to users, apparently features more than 800 bug fixes and stability improvements. Some say those tweaks and other security patches make up the bulk of the progress.

One new feature that's immediately noticeable is the addition of a built-in PDF viewer. According to Chromium Engineering Director Marc Pawliger, the built-in PDF viewer lets the browser 'render [PDF files] as seamlessly as HTML Web pages,' without the need for a standalone Adobe Reader installation.

Since I use Chrome as my primary browser, and since I seem to experience Adobe issues relatively frequently on the three Windows machines I use most often, each running a different operating system, that one new feature might bring some wanted stability to my PDF viewing.

Developers also seem to say Chrome 8 is the first version of the browser to boast full support for Google's upcoming Chrome Web Store. The Chrome Web Store will offer an array of Web-based applications -- both free and paid -- that'll be designed specifically to work with the Chrome browser and the still-under-development Chrome OS.

Google's Chrome 8: What's New, and What's Next - PCWorld