The Girl With A Mac Blog

Chrome For Mac! Merry Christmas

Posted Nov 30, 2009. Filed under Web. Leave a comment?

That’s right. Google is releasing a beta of it’s Chrome web browser to us Mac users. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, however I think I’m going to be disappointed.

According toTechCrunch, Google is rushing to meet their self-imposed end of the year deadline for the beta release. And they’re skimping on some of the features.

Chrome’s Bookmark Manager won’t be done in time for “milestone 4″ or M4 (Chrome version 4, which Chrome for Mac beta will be). Bookmark Manager is slated to be completed by the next milestone, M5. Also slated for completion in M5 is App Mode, which allows users to run web apps in a standalone browser. Fluid users will probably be happy with this feature in Chrome (Fluid lets you create a Site Specific Browser (SSB) out of any website or web application, effectively turning your favorite web apps into desktop apps). In addition, Mac users will be missing out on Google Gears, which allows offline web app functionality for sites like Gmail and Google Docs.

Also, Multi-touch gestures is being pushed back to M5. The feature that is built into OS X and used by MacBook trackpads and the new Magic Mouse. According to TechCrunch, the two listed gestures, “Three-finger-swipe up” and “Pinch in/out to zoom in/out” are still being debated as to what they should actually do. What!? Didn’t Apple already figure that out? For God’s sake it says it in that sentence!!

Sync for Mac, full extension support, full screen mode and task manager will also not be making their debut anytime soon.

The beta release is expected to be this month, maybe as early as this week. However, Google I have an idea for you. PUSH BACK THE DEADLINE! It’s self-imposed, not legally binding. Steve Jobs wouldn’t be so stingy on the features.