Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Google Chrome 21 stable release adds Retina MacBook Pro support, webcam use without plugins

The latest Chrome release is now out for grabs. This release is an important one, especially for Mac users. This release finally brings the long awaited (6 weeks) Retina display support, because the old Chrome with its normal resolution looked terrible (you could actually see the pixels).

 Also in this release is webcam support without plugins. Google has rolled in its promised WebRTC support to let webcams and microphones have their way without Flash or other plugins. Other notable tweaks like wider support for Cloud Print and gamepads tag along in the update as well.

One more thing -- this release of Chrome also automatically disables extensions that are not installed from the Chrome Web Store. This will very important information to know if you have side loaded (download .crx files from websites) extensions from websites. Enabling those disabled plugins are easy, just to to chrome://extensions and select enable for each extension that was disabled. 

Just wanted to give props to Jupiter Broadcasting for a heads up on that info. I'll also be doing an article soon on how you can contribute to Jupiter Broadcasting, the people behind the Linux Action Show, Coder Radio, TechSNAP, and some other good shows.

Sources: Google Chrome Blog, Google