Google Chrome 15 is out with a bunch of new features

The world’s fastest growing browser, Google Chrome has just been updated to version 15. The most conspicuous change in this update is the redesigned New Tab page which we covered while it was in beta. Also coinciding with this release is the launch of a completely overhauled Web store which looks quite similar to the new Android marketplace. Here’s more about the changes in detail.

The New Tab page is what you see every time you open a new tab. This page allows users to easily access all their apps and installed pages. While the old interface wasn’t all that bad, it did get annoying whenever you had to switch between your apps list and your most visited pages. The new New Tab page gets rid of this problem by making it easier to navigate between both the sections. To switch between the sections, you can either use the section labels at the bottom or simply click on the arrow buttons on the sides of the pages. Furthermore, the recently closed tabs menu has been shifted to the bottom right corner. Since the usage of apps has increased, Google has made it easier to manage installed applications. You can now reorder your apps and put them into new sections to get rid of excess app clutter.You can also create new sections for bookmarks and rename them to your liking. To remove an app, all you have to do is drag it and drop it into the bottom right corner. Here’s Google’s post and video about the changes in the new version.

Coming to other updates, sync settings have now been moved to the wrench menu thus allowing easy access to your profile. Earlier users had to search through the Preferences menu in order to change their sync settings.

The extension settings section is now a part of Preferences rather than being a separate menu. This menu too has undergone some minor changes making it easier to manage installed extensions and apps.

Apart from the interface tweaks, version 15 also brings along some important security updates and bugfixes to the browser, a changelog of which can be viewed here.

Coinciding with the release is also the launch of  a redesigned Google Chrome Webstore. The store which allows users to install apps on their browser now sports a tiled menu that’s quite similar to Android’s new marketplace. Along with a new look, a bunch of new apps like Godfather and Fieldrunners have also been added.

To download Google Chrome, just go Chrome’s website and click on the Download Chrome button. If you are on Linux and you already have Chrome installed on your system then simply update the system by using your favorite package manager.