Windows/Mac/Linux: If you're living life on the bleeding edge of Google's Chrome browser, good news: Google just pushed out an update to the dev channel, improving HTML5 audio and video for all platforms, bringing extension and bookmark sync to Macs, and more.

The Windows build didn't see many changes, but Mac users should be particularly happy with the update. Having been excluded from extension support when the Chrome extension gallery first opened, Mac users can now officially join in the fun. (See these 18 extensions worth downloading for Chrome to get started with Chrome extensions.) Mac users also gain support for much-needed bookmark sync and support for favicon-only pinned tabs.

The Google Chrome developers have released a new version this week with enhanced support for extensions and—dare we say it—a proper extensions menu item so you can access Chrome's extension manager with ease.

Windows and Linux versions received some minor tweaking. The updates to the Mac version include fixing a slew of keyboard commands and updating the way secure HTTP sites are displayed, to more clearly alert the viewer that the site has a bad security certificate.

Google today released a new browser plug-in called Google Chrome Frame that creates an unholy union between Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, rendering web pages in IE using Chrome's rendering engine.

That rendering technology includes Chrome's support for HTML5 and its lightning-fast JavaScript engine. How does it turn IE into Chrome? By creating a new frame inside of Internet Explorer that basically embeds the Chrome browser. It's sort of like the previously mentioned IE Tab tool that embeds IE in Firefox, so users can access the now-rare IE-only sites. In this case, though, it's embedding Chrome in IE instead of the other way around, for the much more common dilemma of sites that won't render correctly in Internet Explorer.

Windows only: Chrome turned one year old just a couple weeks back, and as a belated celebration, the folks at Google have just pushed out a brand new stable release in the form of Google Chrome 3.

Chrome 2 (stable) hit servers back in May, and while the folks at Google are currently on Chrome 4 in the dev channel, those of you who haven't been eager to play on the bleeding edge of Chrome releases have a lot of nice improvements in store for them in Chrome 3, including:

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.

The Official Google Chrome Blog highlights three simple but useful shortcuts for controlling exactly what happens when you click a link in Chrome. Incidentally, they also work exactly the same in Firefox, so whichever you prefer, read on for the refresher.

Opera 10 final is out, Chrome just turned one year old, and Firefox 3.5 has settled into stability. It's time once again to break out the timers and speed test today's web browsers.

Like all our previous speed tests, this one is unscientific, but thorough. We install the most current versions of each browser being tested—in this case, Opera 10, Chrome's development channel 4.0 version, and the final Firefox 3.5 with security fixes—in a system with a 2.0 GHz Intel Centrino Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, running Windows XP.

We use Rob Keir's tiny timer app to time each browser in the common ways that leave users waiting: a "cold start" right after boot, a "warm start" after already having run once, and waiting on eight tabs to load up. We run each test three times and average the results, tossing out any obvious irregularities.

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.

If you've been keeping up with the latest Chrome releases for OS X and you just upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard, you may have been disappointed to learn that Snow Leopard introduced quite a few bugs into Chrome. Luckily, Google's just released a dev channel update for Chrome on OS X fixing issues related to keyboard shortcuts, appearance, crashes, and more. You can download the latest dev release here. [Google Chrome Releases]

Google Chrome's Incognito mode is great for doing a little under-the-radar browsing on your computer, but if you want to use Chrome to search in private from the get-go, these Windows and OS X-friendly methods can help.

Last October we showed you how to start Chrome in Incognito mode with a JavaScript file, but since then Google's added a startup flag (-incognito) you can add to your Chrome shortcut in Windows to automatically start in Incognito mode. (Right-click your Chrome shortcut, then add -incognito after the target like you see in the screenshot.)

That's simple enough, and it's not a new trick by any means, but if you're running OS X, starting Chrome in Incognito mode from the get-go is a bit more difficult. Luckily weblog Cool Geex details how to do just that with a little help from AppleScript. Head to the link below for a guide (with video) for creating and compiling the Chrome-in-Incognito-mode script and you'll be good to go.

While you're polishing up your Chrome skills, take a look at our power user's guide to Google Chrome.

While themes aren't exactly all about productivity, strictly speaking, it never hurts to spice things up a little bit and make your workspace a little friendlier. To that end, Google Chrome's new Theme gallery adds a little spice to your Chrome installation.

You'll need to be using Google Chrome 3 to install any of the themes, and doing so is as simple as clicking the Apply theme button for any of the visible themes. We've verified the themes as working on both Windows and OS X, and presumably they should be working just fine on Linux, as well. Take a closer look at some of the themes in the gallery below, or just hit up the new gallery and try them out yourself.

The browser speed wars continue, and this time Chrome's throwing down the gauntlet once again. According to CNET, the latest developer build of Chrome outpaces Firefox 3.1 beta in the SunSpider Speed test, while Safari and IE 8 continue to lag behind. Be sure to check our most recent browser speed tests for a fuller picture of performance differences. UPDATE: Apparently the reviewer at CNET hadn't enabled TraceMonkey, the new JavaScript engine that's not yet enabled by default in the 3.1 Beta release. Learn how to enable TraceMonkey and more about Firefox 3.1 Beta with our first look.