google_chrome

Google’s popular web browser, Chrome, has a new version out for you to download, it’s 64-bit (yes, 64-bit). The updated browser is now available for Windows, OS X and Linux users and includes updates to how fonts look on Windows and an updated password manager.

For Windows users, the best part of this update will be the support for DirectWrite, for improved font rendering which will make browsing the web even better; there are also a number of new apps/extension APIs and other stability improvements as well.

What are the advantages of the 64-bit versions over the standard 32-bit version you ask? Well Google claims that;

Speed: 64-bit allows Google to take advantage of the latest processor and compiler optimizations, a more modern instruction set, and a calling convention that allows more function parameters to be passed quickly by registers. As a result, speed is improved, especially in graphics and multimedia content, which sees an average 25 percent bump in performance.

Security: With Chrome able to take advantage of the latest OS features such as High Entropy ASLR on Windows 8, security is improved on 64-bit platforms as well. Those extra bits also help better defend against exploitation techniques such as JIT spraying, and improve the effectiveness of existing security defense features like heap partitioning.

Stability: Google has observed a marked increase in stability for 64-bit Chrome over 32-bit Chrome. In particular, crash rates for the renderer process (i.e. Web content process) are almost half.

Source : Google

By Harry