Yesterday, Google delivered a major update to Chrome Beta users, bumping the version to 8.0.552.28. The changelog for this release is a doozy, and runs down loads of security updates, UI tweaks, and plumbing for features which are still coming soon (like Cloud Print and password sync).

You'll also find plenty of new experimental features on the Chrome Beta about:flags page. The big addition, however, is the arrival of the built-in PDF viewer. Chrome's viewer currently offers a major advantage over Adobe Reader when it comes to security -- sandboxing -- which helps prevent malicious PDFs from successfully attacking your computer.

Chrome's internal Flash plug-in has also been updated, as has the V8 JavaScript engine, and a ton of sync-related code has been added (doing a ctrl+f on the SVN log for sync will turn just about your whole scrollbar yellow). Beta users can now set an encryption passphrase to secure their data and apps are now included by default. Maybe that means we'll be able to download some from the Chrome Web Store soon...

Dev channel users should also have an update ready this morning -- which brings a new version of the internal Flash plug-in.

Google Chrome's dev channel has been bumped from 7.0.503.0 to 7.0.517.0. The update wasn't silky-smooth for me this time -- more on that later in this post. So what's new in Chrome dev?

For starters, there's been a lot of code cleanup, and there have also been some minor UI tweaks as well -- a few pixels rounded here and there on Mac, but nothing too noticeable. Google Chrome's remoting code has seen numerous updates and it looks as though the feature is just about ready for us to test. Right now, however, all you can see is a login window -- but you won't be able to login. My guess is that only Google's internal accounts will work at the moment.

So is Apple TV still only a hobby for Jobs and company? Because if it isn’t, then I’m missing something from yesterday’s presentation when the new iteration of Apple’s set-top device was unveiled. The new Apple TV is smaller, cheaper and sexier, I’ll grant it that, but what else does it really have going for it?

Let’s start with rental only. That’s right, you can only rent content from the Apple TV, not purchase it. It makes sense given the device’s lack of onboard storage, but does it make sense for a buying public that’s only just now moving past the point of physical media ownership? All of a sudden, not only do you not have a disc you own when you pay for content, you also don’t even have a file. Instead you get a window of opportunity.

Ahh, the thrill of running bleeding-edge software! It's not for the feint of heart, to be sure. Heck, it's not even for someone who has a perfectly strong heart but doesn't do well with watching features appear and disappear on a regular basis.

Take Chrome's nifty internal PDF plug-in. Just a few days ago, Google dropped the need for a command line switch to activate it, enabling it by default for users of the dev channel build. Today, however, another update was pushed and the plug-in has once again been switched off.

You can still enable the plug-in if you wish -- just visit chrome://plugins and click enable underneath the Chrome PDF Viewer.

It's likely that the Chrome team is just ironing out a few kinks prior to pushing the plug-in to the beta channel. With Chrome's accelerated release schedule, it probably won't be long before the PDF viewer joins the internal Flash plug-in on Chrome installs everywhere.

Updates to the Google Chrome dev channel build tend to come fast and furious, and they don't always include noticeable changes. This time, however, there are a few noteworthy UI tweaks to go along with the usual assortment of bug fixes and security updates.

For starters, the unified menu we told you about early last month has now been turned on by default. The goal, of course, is to simplify Chrome's UI and increase the amount of space available for extension icons. Some Download Squad readers, however, seem to be less than thrilled with the change. Apart from requiring an extra click to access your extensions, the "create application shortcut" option has been removed.

Chrome Sync has received a lot of attention in this update, and now sports a new interface. As you can see, extension sync is also enabled by default now -- no more need for a pair of lengthy command line switches. Several improvements under the hood have drastically improved extension sync, and I haven't experienced any issues since updating.

The sync engine has also been tweaked to support encryption, and work continues on adding password sync to the mix. It's actually enabled by default in Chromium right now, though it doesn't appear to be active -- my Linux Chromium still prompts me for passwords I've saved on Windows. The feature seems to be nearly ready, though, so likely won't be much longer before you're able to flip the password switch in Chrome.

If you're using the dev channel, you've probably received the update already - click the wrench menu > about Chrome to check. Want to make the jump the Chrome's cutting-edge build? Download it here.

Worth noting: the unified menu does add an extra click to open your extensions tab, but you can also get there by right-clicking any extension icon and choosing manage extensions.

Google has released an update to Chrome's developer channel build, and the changelog is a lengthy one. Among the plethora of bugfixes and UI tweaks are some notable changes like the arrival of theme syncing, the departure of Windows 7's taskbar thumbnails, and several minor UI tweaks.

As predicted yesterday, the expanded sync options which landed in Chromium have made their way into the dev channel build. Theme sync wasn't even present in Chromium's preference menu as of yesterday afternoon, yet it snuck in to Chrome today.

That was also the case with support for Aero Peek, which was removed on April 5th. Those who want them back can simply add a command line switch (see the previous post), and thumbnails will likely reappear in Chrome once a satisfactory implementation can be engineered.

You may also have noticed that the bookmark star has been moved to the right-hand side of the Omnibox. Other minor tweaks to Chrome's interface have also been made, like the browser actions area resize grabber. Just about every other aspect of Chrome has received some updating, from the V8 JavaScript engine, to autofill, to its geolocation feature (which is now enabled by default).

Interested users can either update their current dev channel build via the wrench menu -> about Chrome and new users can download the build from Google's site.