Dec 9 2009
Google has launched the official gallery of Chrome extensions late Tuesday, putting one of the key missing pieces of the browsing puzzle into place. If you’re on a developer Chrome version, you can now take advantage of built-in extensibility to customize the browser with dozens of third-party extensions. Google claims Chrome extensions are as easy to create as webpages. Users can install and uninstall them quickly without restart, and they sport a great polished look that fits in with Chrome’s minimalist aesthetic, the search company said.
Note that extensions aren’t quite ready in beta, let alone stable Chrome versions. Nevertheless, it’s clear this will be a headline feature in the next Chrome update. Google’s product manager Brian Rakowski wrote in a blog post that extensions won’t tax the browser’s performance and jeopardize users’ security due to a clever design:
If you want to try out extensions in Chrome, make sure you are running a developer version when visiting Chrome extensions gallery. To manage installed extensions, choose “Extensions” from Chrome’s wrench menu. There were over 300 extensions available in the gallery at press time. Developers can learn more about writing extensions for Chrome on the Chromium blog. Extensions aren’t available in the first official Chrome for Mac beta that launched late Tuesday. Modders and customization freaks should also check an unofficial source of Chrome extensions at ChromeExtensions.org.
