Google preps Mac Chrome beta for holiday launch

Google preps Mac Chrome beta for holiday launch

Google is reportedly preparing to launch a beta version of its Mac Chrome browser in time for the upcoming holiday season. "The extensions team has been working hard to get BrowserActions ready, and they're already working great on Windows and Linux," Google's Nick Baum wrote in an official forum post. He also recommended that developers update their extensions to "take advantage" of the new beta (3) UI. "Why make the switch now? The earlier you switch, the more time you will have to polish your experience for our Beta launch in early December," explained Baum. "We realize this means dropping Mac support for a couple of weeks, but we already have people working on that. If you prioritize the Windows and Linux versions, we'll bring you cross-platform parity as soon as we can!"Unsurprisingly, Baum's forum post prompted an enthusiastic response from a number of journalists and bloggers, including MacWorld's Dan Moren. "The developer preview versions of Google's Chrome Web browser for OS X have slowly been improving to the point where they probably won't kernel panic your machine five minutes after launch," said Moren. "[But] we all know that, in Googlespeak, 'beta' means 'good enough for use on a daily basis.' So, it sounds like Chrome for the Mac might be ready just in time for the winter holidays. Load up your party cracker, get that noisemaker ready, and, if you're like me, get ready to wait by the menorah for the download to surface on Google's site.