Google Chrome's Version Number Is Meaningless

Google Chrome is the first browser that has a meaningless version number. Since Chrome is automatically updated, most people use the latest version of the software a few days after it's released.

Google's help articles aren't the only ones that ignore Chrome's version number. Yahoo has recently released a report that recommends developers to assume that Chrome users are running the latest version.

"Chrome has been progressing rapidly through versions, and Google has communicated its intent to continue rapid development and short release cycles. As a result, we've modified our strategy for Chrome to advise testing on the latest [generally available] release of Chrome as soon as it is issued, with prior versions moving to X-grade as soon as they are superseded."

Now that Google Chrome has a new major release every six weeks, you won't see too many new features. Chrome 7 focuses on "hundreds of bug fixes", while Chrome 8 enables the internal PDF viewer. Chrome's releases aren't exciting because the browser is constantly improving and you don't have to wait one year or more to see the new features.