Google Chrome 14 Hits Stable Channel

Google Chrome 14 has just made the switch from the beta channel to the stable channel, meaning that the new update is quietly replacing Chrome 13 on many of your computers even as you read this.

As is the norm in this era of frequent-but-minor browser updates, you may not immediately notice the difference: two of Chrome 14's most notable features are mostly under-the-hood. The first is support for the Web Audio API, a draft HTML5 feature that allows developers to use what Google calls "fancy audio effects" in their pages. The second, Native Client (or NaCl), allows native C and C++ code to run in a sandbox within the browser - the intent here is to enable apps to move more easily from the desktop to the browser window, and run roughly as quickly as they do when run locally. This development is particularly promising for app developers with legacy codebases, and will only become more useful as Google adds to NaCl's list of supported programming languages.

The last major change, and one that's more user-facing, adds support for full screen mode in OS X 10.7. Chrome 14 also uses Lion's disappearing scrollbar rather than the fixed "legacy" scrollbar (though, as in other apps, the traditional scrollbar will continue to appear when using a non-multitouch pointing device with Lion).

Current users of Chrome 13 should get the new update automatically, though you can also download it at will from Google's web site. Meanwhile, users on the Chrome Beta channel should expect to see Chrome 15 moved from the Dev channel soon, while the Dev channel should soon get its first taste of Chrome 16.

Source: Google Chrome Blog