Google has unveiled a new strategy for Chrome: accelerate the rate at which stable releases are made available. The company even thinks it can get a new stable version out once every six weeks. That’s double what it currently does.
Google says it has the following three goals:
- Shorten the release cycle and still get great features in front of users when they are ready
- Make the schedule more predictable and easier to scope
- Reduce the pressure on engineering to “make” a release
"We have new features coming out all the time and do not want users to have to wait months before they can use them," writes Chrome Program Manager Anthony Laforge on the Chromium blog. "While pace is important to us, we are all committed to maintaining high quality releases — if a feature is not ready, it will not ship in a stable release."
Chrome’s share of the browser market is already growing, and if Google can manage to release a new version every six weeks, it will not only keep the speed of innovation up, but will also keep the brand in the pubic eye practically nonstop.