If you are a Google Chrome users, you are in for another treat. Last week, Google released Chrome 10 which brings a handful of improvements just a month after launching Chrome 9. Although the version number is a major jump, the improvements are rather minor. In fact, most users probably will never notice any changes aside from performance improvements due to a 66% faster Javascript engine. The new update also offers a new settings panel interface for easier configuration, security enhancements for Adobe Flash, and encryption for synchronized passwords.

Settings Interface

Rather than a pop up window for configuring Chrome, the redesign opens the settings panel in a new tab. A search box lets people find the options they are looking for easily. Every configuration page has a permanent link, so sharing hard-to-find pages by email or instant messaging is now easier than ever.

The improvements are definitely a step in the right direction. It is more intuitive and is very similar to the settings interface on the Chrome OS notebook. This also makes it possible for Google to offer more customization options in the future without being restricted to a small cluttered pop up window.

Security Enhancements

For those that use Chrome Sync to keep auto-fill, bookmarks, browsing history, extensions, passwords, and preferences consistent across multiple computers, things just got even safer. Users can now pick a pass phrase to further encrypt their data for additional protection.

Plugin-ins such as Adobe Flash are often a major vulnerability for browsers and Google takes an interesting approach to solve that. A few months ago, Google decided to bundle Flash Player with Chrome so users would no longer have buggy or outdated versions. Chrome 10 takes things even further by sandboxing this integrated plugin to prevent malicious webpages from gaining access to your personal information or other data on your machine.

Time To Upgrade

If you are expecting a notification to upgrade to Chrome 10, do not hold your breath. Google automatically pushes updates out to users. You are probably already running the latest version. If you noticed a little icon by the settings wrench at the top right, you need to restart your browser for the updates to take effect. You can also head over to the “About Google Chrome” menu to manually check for updates. On that note, have you seen the Skatter Tech Chrome Web App?

Links: Official Google Blog