Last week, Google said that they would be launching a Metro version of Chrome with the next dev channel update. As promised, the dev channel update went live and we can now try out the new version of Chome for Metro.
So how does Chrome stack up on Windows 8 Metro? It’s pretty much like the Chrome that you know and love with a few Metro-specific tweaks. It shows that Google isn’t ready to make an entirely new experience tailored specifically to Metro. While that sounds bad, it really isn’t. People who make the switch over to Windows 8 aren’t going to be used to the new interface that’s forced in Internet Explorer 10 so Chrome being more traditional goes a long way to easing people in.
The Metro-specific tweaks mentioned above is mostly Google applying traditional functionality to new Metro design mentality. They have forgone the app bar that is accessed by hitting “Windows key + Z.” Instead, a menu bar will pop up at the top right that includes all the settings that you need.
What’s better is that the Chrome version of Metro has retained traditional tab browsing. It’s a far cry from Internet Explorer 10 tabs where you have to bring down a giant black bar menu that features all of your tabs. Sure, it looks pretty, but it lacks the simplicity of Chrome.
Chrome doesn’t completely go off into unmarked territory when it comes to Metro features pioneered by Internet Explorer. Just like in IE10, Flash is built into the Metro version of Chrome. It makes it super easy to plug up security holes in Flash since Google can push out regular updates to the browser that also takes care of Flash.
If you want to try out Chrome on Metro for yourself, you can grab the download link here. Remember, this is a dev channel update so I recommend it only to Web developers or the most hardcore of users. There might be problems that will go over the head of the average Internet user. I suggest that those who don’t know what they’re doing at least wait for the Beta release.
Here’s a look at the new Chrome browser in Metro from YouTube user sarveshmotihari:
[h/t: Venture Beat]