If you're into getting the latest, greatest, most-untested updates to Google's Chrome Browser, the developer channel is the place for you. New updates to Chrome on all platforms just hit the dev channel, with a bug fix that should solve some problems with HTML5 audio and video. The big news is just for Mac users, though: Chrome Extension support is here!

That means OS X users now can share in the epic winningness of Download Squad's 10 must-have Chrome extensions, compiled by our own Sebastian, and a collection of 15+ extensions put together by Lee. Or, if you prefer to find extensions on your own, head over to Google's Chrome Extensions Gallery and start browsing. 

Chrome only: Firefox users can already use the VidzBigger Greasemonkey script to tweak and customize popular video sharing sites like YouTube, and now the script has been ported as a full Google Chrome extension.

Chrome only: Google's Similar Pages for Chrome extension adds a button to the toolbar that uses Google's search algorithms to find other web sites similar to the one you are currently browsing.

Once you've installed the extension, you can simply click the new button in the toolbar to see a list of related pages, complete with thumbnail previews, descriptions, and a link. The related sites are usually fairly accurate, but where it seems to work best is when browsing more permanent articles on a specific subject—for example, using the similar pages button on the Wikipedia article on Shadow Copy brought back a list of useful related pages, but if you are on the home page of a site, the results will be more general.

If you need to do a lot of research and can't always think of the right query to use on Google, this extension could come in handy. Google Similar Pages is a free download, works wherever Chrome extensions do.

Chrome only: Notifier extension One Number checks for unread messages in Gmail, Wave, Voice, and Google Reader and displays the unread count right on the Google Chrome toolbar.

Once you've installed the extension, you'll immediately see the button added to the toolbar, where you can see the previews for each service, and access the settings page. You can enable or disable services that you don't use, and customize the colors or how often the extension checks for new unread messages. It's a simple extension, but if you've been looking for an unread message notifier, One Number might be worth a try. One Number is a free download, works wherever Chrome does.

Google Chrome extension A Bit Better RTM is one of our favorite ways to tweak the popular Remember the Milk online to-do list web app, and now it's been ported as a native Google Chrome extension.

We've mentioned the A Bit Better RTM Greasemonkey script twice before as one of our favorite user scripts for Greasemonkey in Firefox, and the the native Chrome version works much the same way—the most noticeable feature moves the tabs over to the left, saving precious vertical space for widescreen laptop users, and making them more readable in general.

In addition, you can rearrange the lists, hide the lists you don't use, use keyboard shortcuts to switch between them, and even move an item to a folder from the keyboard. It's an extremely helpful extension, and this author, at least, is thrilled to finally have it on Chrome. A Bit Better RTM is a free download, works wherever Chrome does. Thanks, CookingCat!

While Google's stance on a lot of things is "just search it," that's not always the most comfortable way to do things. For example, when I poke around my browser's history page it's nice to have things sorted and grouped rather than deposited in a large pile.

History2 provides a more flexible way to peruse Chrome's archives. Install the extension and click its icon in your toolbar, and the History2 page above is displayed. It doesn't replace Chrome's built-in page -- you can still access that via ctrl + H or under the wrench menu.

Google Chrome (on Windows): Password saving and management webapp LastPass offers a single space to drop your web site passwords and quickly use them on any browser—now including Chrome, through an extension available to development channel users.

LastPass works on Chrome similarly to how it does on Firefox and Internet Explorer, and it's a bit more convenient and functional than its bookmarklet form filler. The concept remains the same: you only have to remember your LastPass login, and LastPass remembers all your other passwords and, if you want, credit card and form data, too. Before you ask, here's how LastPass justifies its safety and encryption.

Chrome extension WOT adds the Web of Trust community web site rating service to the Google Chrome browser, so you can check the trustworthiness of a web site without leaving the page.

Once you've installed the extension—by simply clicking on the link and accepting the install—you will see a new icon in the Chrome status bar that shows the community rating for the site you are browsing. Clicking the icon will display a dialog on the page with full details about the trustworthiness of the site, and a link to the rating page for more information. You can configure which of the rankings to use in the settings, but unfortunately you can't move it from the status bar to anywhere else.

It's starting, people. Big name browser addon developers are starting to show Google Chrome some love. So far, we've seen AdSweep, RoboForm, LastPass (a personal favorite), and a few others.

Web of Trust is now onboard as well, announcing the release of their extension today. I've written about WOT before -- it's a great addition for anyone wanting a bit of added security and safety when they browse. It's listed in my 6 Windows tools to prevent PC problems on your own and 14 useful Firefox addons.

If you're running the Development ("dev") builds of Google Chrome and have already jumped in with a few extensions, like Xmarks' bookmark syncer, recent builds give you a more convenient way to monitor and remove those add-ons.

Type chrome://extensions into a new tab, and you'll see something similar to the screen above. Reloading and uninstalling extensions that aren't quite helpful is certainly useful, but the buttons on the right-hand side could be a bit better explained. This is, of course, an early version of a tool stuffed into a development channel release, so we'll expect the look and feel to get a bit more polished in the "stable" channel.

A number of Download Squad readers have been echoing the same sentiment in recent posts about Google's browser: as soon as LastPass is available, we're leaving Firefox for good.

Well, gang, grab your parachutes, it's time to bail! The LastPass crew has released an alpha version of their Google Chrome extension, and it rocks. Check out the screens after the break!

Starting today, all builds in Google Chrome's dev channel will have extension support enabled by default—meaning Chrome is one step closer to the kind of extensibility that keeps Firefox die-hards from switching.

Not that extensions is the only thing that keeps users loyal to Firefox, but from what we've heard around the water cooler, that is the case for a lot of folks frustrated with Firefox memory bloat.

Google pushed out some sample extensions a while back (most notably the previously mentioned Gmail Checker), but now users no longer need to add that pesky --extensions-enabled switch to the end of their Chrome shortcut in order to get extensions working.

One year ago, Google Chrome came out of nowhere to re-ignite the browser debate. Today, it's reached (development) version 4.0, and it's anchoring a much-anticipated operating system. Here's a look back at where Chrome's been in 12 short months.

Filed under: Google, Browsers

Google Chrome: Want to keep track of what you've got open in Google Chrome? The experimental SessionSaver extension can save and load multi-tab, multi-window sessions and restore them with a few clicks.

Installing SessionSaver, or any Chrome extension, requires running Chrome's developer version, available using the Channel Changer tool, and adding --enable-extensions to the end of your Chrome launching shortcut, right after the chrome.exe bit. Once that's done, head to the link below and click on the first link to download and install the extension.

Using it is fairly simple. There's a save-icon-like button installed in Chrome's bottom status bar. Click on it to get load, save, and settings options, where you can save either just one window's tabs, every window's tabs, or load a previous session into your current tabs. Helpful for starting up multi-tab projects or saving your web progress when you're venturing into crash-prone territory.

Windows only: Until Google graces us with a real extension manager, an enterprising user put together an impressive batch file that can handle enabling, disabling, or even uninstalling Google Chrome extensions.

Once you've downloaded the batch file, you can simply double-click to open it up in a command prompt window, where you'll be presented with a menu that allows you to enable, disable, or uninstall extensions, or even run Chrome with extensions enabled. It's definitely not the ideal way to deal with add-ons, but it's a great, workable solution until Google puts a real extension manager together—and you have to admire those kind of batch scripting skills.

Hit the link for the download, and remember to right-click the batch file download link and Save As, giving the file a *.bat extension.