Google Chrome Passes into 2.0 Beta, Chromium For Linux Gets a Simple Install [Browsers]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/uYc5INIfuSw/google-chrome-passes-into-20-beta-chromium-for-linux-gets-a-simple-install

Removing Chrome's 'beta' label couldn't have been easy for Google, but it looks like they're bringing it right back. Chrome 2.0 beta is now available for Windows, along with a little treat for Linux users.

Chrome 2.0 isn't a total overhaul, and to end users very little will seem different—until they start browsing. Chrome's rendering is said to be between 25% and 35% faster than the last version, with most of the speed gains picked up by streamlined javascript engine. The rest of the enhancements—form autofill, new tab options and custom user script support, a la Greasemonkey—are welcome, but as it stands, this looks a little more like Chrome 1.5 than 2.0. Justifying an entirely new version number would require something interesting like, oh, I don't know, that rumored extension support.

For Ubuntu Linux users, the much rawer Chromium browser has always been a pain in the ass to install. Now the installation process has been dramatically simplified. Instead of all the previously-required downloading, compiling and terminal-delving, Ubuntu users can simply apt-get the 'chromium-browser' package and give it a whirl to confirm that, yes, it still sucks. Get well soon, Chromium. [Slashdot]