Google Chrome for Mac coming soon

Seth Weintraub
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January 10, 2009
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As Wired reports, the makeup of Google Chrome 2.0 Alpha indicates that the browser could be hitting the Mac (and Linux) platform at any moment.  The major roadblock for version 1.0 to go cross platform was that it was based on the Windows-only WinHTTP library.  This was likely to get the browser out the door on Windows as soon as possible.

The Chrome 2.0 alpha also has some big news for for Mac and Linux users who’d like to try Chrome: Chrome 2.0 uses its own HTTP network library rather than the WinHTTP library on Windows. 

The Windows-only HTTP library was one of the main stumbling blocks to cross-platform support and now that it’s gone the Mac and Linux versions should see some significant progress in the near future.

 

Google's Chrome browser is based on Webkit, as are many other mobile and desktop browsers out there, including Apple's Safari. 

To get the latest news on Google Chrome for Mac, head over to Google's dedicated Chromium Mac site.  For those who can wait, Crossover has a version that runs off of the WINE APIs.  That, or you can install it on a VMWare or Parallels partition.

Comments (8)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 10, 2009 - 8:19pm

Ok, I've tried it on windows. It's ok but not obviously better than firefox or especially safari. So why would anyone get excited about running it?
Especially on the mac, there's no compelling reason to try it. Safari or the webkit nightly builds are better.

admin | January 11, 2009 - 12:41am

each tab being its own process is good in case one gets stuck ,

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 11, 2009 - 7:55am

because it's one of the greatest spyware schemes ever.

powers | January 11, 2009 - 9:09am

seeing as they already scan your email (if you are composing in the browser) for subjective advertising.

I mean I'll definitely try it, but I'll be surprised if I like it. I wish they would work on getting Sketchup working better on the Mac. 

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 10, 2009 - 9:48pm

I just switched from Safari to FireFox, because FireFox can handle:
-opening a large number of links (more than say, 15-20 links, sent one at a time to it via AppleScript) without the browser freezing both itself AND the app sending the AppleEvents (NetNewsWire) [this also happens opening a batch of links from a web site within Safari, like from machash.com]
-tab behaviour. Cmd-clicking on a link in Safari vs FireFox, with FireFox you have more definite notification that the tab opened (particularly with Safari being completely non-responsive for 10-15 seconds) [FireFox either displays the tab onscreen OR it flashes the little tab in the corner]. And the scrolling tab-bar lets you actually select the tabs with your mouse when you have more than a couple of tabs open...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 10, 2009 - 9:52pm

I use Webkit and it kicks booty! The speed is unparalleled. If Chrome is supposed to be the next big thing -- then prove itA!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 12, 2009 - 11:48am

Chrome is a Webkit based browser.

PS: The comment captcha system really does not work. Especially frustrating when using mobile Safari. Entering the correct letters always fails the first time. Trying the second time results in mobile Safari crashing.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 11, 2009 - 1:14pm

So the HTTP library is what's holding the Mac version back?
Get real. HTTP is a simple protocol, how hard can it be to do a cross-platform implementation?