Microsoft, Google are working together to bring Chrome to Windows on ARM

Hoping to give Windows on ARM machines a bit more support, Microsoft is working with Google to make the Chrome browser a native Windows on ARM app. Microsoft is trying its luck again by creating Windows 10 on ARM, a line of PCs that run on ARM processors. It didn’t succeed the first time around with Windows RT and how limiting the system is. But this time it can run on x86 programs in an emulator, expanding the range of software the machine can run. But this will, of course, affect performance, so it’s better to develop native ARM apps.

That’s where this new collaboration comes in. Technically, Chrome works on ARM systems, but it doesn’t currently compile properly as a Windows-on-ARM application. 9to5Google spotted various commits by Microsoft engineers helping develop Chrome for Windows 10 on ARM. With the help of Microsoft developers and addressing issues, this can change that. Qualcomm is supposedly helping out as an executive last month said they are working to bring a native ARM port to Windows.

Source: Ars Technica

Google celebrates Chrome's 10th anniversary with a design overhaul

No browser has endured longer and evolved as much as Google Chrome. Considered the dominant web browser on desktops and on mobile and which has also been spun off as a cloud operating system, Google celebrated the first 10 years of Chrome by redesigning the browser's look and feel across the line.

On the PC and Mac, we're seeing rounded tabs, a pill-shaped search area and refined elements

Chrome Browser will have a new design across all operating systems. Highlights include Microsoft Windows 10® notification-center integration, touchpad gesture navigation on Windows, and autofill updates.

If you want to get the redesign try entering the Chrome flag URLs below into the address bar and selecting the appropriate option from the dropdown menu. To get the latest features be sure to enable them in Chrome Beta 69.

Mac, Windows, Linux:

chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md

Android

chrome://flags/#enable-chrome-modern-design

Source: 9to5Google

Google to end support for Chrome apps on all platforms outside Chrome OS

Screencap: Ubergizmo

In the coming months and year, Google will slowly be phasing out support for Chrome apps on other platforms outside of its own Chrome OS platform. This means, Windows, Mac, and Linux users will lose access to them. By the second half of 2017, these apps won’t show up on the Chrome Web Store. Newly-published apps coming out at the latter part of this year will only be available on Chrome OS. By early 2018, users can no longer load these apps. What will be remaining there are the extensions and themes.

And while it seems like a big deal, it would seem only a small number of users are using Chrome apps. According to Google, “Today, approximately 1 percent of users on Windows, Mac, and Linux actively use Chrome packaged apps, and most hosted apps are already implemented as regular web apps.” And with the advancements in open web, Google feels like there isn’t a real need for these apps. Google is encouraging developers to migrate their Chrome apps to the web or help out Google with new APIs to fill in gaps left by the Chrome apps.

Google makes improvements to Chrome browser on iOS

Google today announced that it is making some critical updates to its Chrome browser in iOS which will result in faster and more stable performance.

"The latest Chrome for iOS is significantly faster and more stable, so you can pick up where you left off browsing (on any device) without worrying about Chrome crashing on misbehaving webpages. In fact, tests show that the latest version reduces Chrome’s crash rate by 70 percent and speeds up JavaScript execution significantly," Google said in a blog post.

This new update comes just as news of Apple's Safari browser on iOS and Mac is experiencing various crashes due to a search suggestion feature issue. 

Source: Google