Google Chrome and Mac OS X : a light beta version is approaching release

A bug still needs to be corrected before the first beta version of Google Chrome compatible with Mac OS X can be released. There will nevertheless be a few functions still not available in this initial version.

The manager heading up the development of Google Chrome for Mac on Monday published a message on Twitter announcing that only one bug remained to be corrected before the first beta version of the Web browser on Mac OS X is released. The issue is in relation to freezes encountered with the Adobe Flash technology.

More then a year after the first beta version of Google Chrome was seen on Windows, the web browser has now become multi-platform, even if a GNU/Linux version is far from being ready. This diversification could see them gaining new ground in terms of market share.

Google recently indicated that there were 40 million Google Chrome users in the world, with this translating into market share slightly less than 4%, placing them in fourth position behind Apple Safari. Google has also set a goal of 5% market share before Google Chrome’s second birthday (September 2010), which will surely be passed.

It is interesting to think about how successful Google Chrome can really be in the Mac OS X environment, as besides Firefox, Safari remains widely used – taking advantage of the WebKit engine provided. As for JavaScript performance, V8 (in the Google Chrome builds) and Nitro (in Safari 4) are neck and neck.


A first incomplete beta
Google at the same time appears to be playing with fire a little, trying to maintain their deployment schedule for Google Chrome on Mac OS X, by releasing it while missing some functions. This is at least the case for the beta version; although it is not yet possible to know whether this will also be the case for the final version.

TechCrunch has created a list of "sacrificed" functions among which you can find: the integration of Gears plug-ins which allows you to use Web services while offline, signets management, signets synchronisation, task management, full screen display, full extensions support and 64 bit support.