OS X: Google has released the “Canary” version of its popular Chrome browser for OS X, giving Mac users earlier access to advanced features.Chrome Canary has been available for the bravest of Windows users for quite some time now, while only the Stable, Beta and Dev release channels were available for Mac.
Depending on the release channel chosen, updates to Chrome will either be fewer, but more stable, or more frequent and less stable. Canary is the most “bleeding edge” of all the release channels, so it offers users much earlier access to more advanced features—at the cost of stability. To put it in perspective, Chrome Beta for Mac is version 11, while the Canary release is version 13. That’s a big jump for any piece of software.
Getting new features isn’t the real purpose of using a Canary build of Chrome, though. Unlike other release channels, Canary isn’t tested before release. The idea is that users will allow the app to report back to Google and become testers themselves, just by using it. Progress made in testing Canary features will trickle down through the other channels as they become more stable, and that’s how Chrome moves so quickly through versions (and gets new features so fast).
You don’t have to sacrifice your favourite browser’s stability to test the newest features, though. Chrome Canary can be installed and run right alongside your existing version of Chrome.
Google Chrome Canary is a free web browser for Intel Macs running OS X version 10.5 or newer.
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