With this update, Chrome will begin loading your most frequented pages even before you finish typing the URL in the omnibox (the URL bar within Chrome that also serves as a Google search). Chrome will prerender the page in the background, which will allow it to load faster – “even instantly as soon as you hit Enter,” according to a blog post.

The security updates involving further protections from malicious downloads. “In addition to checking a list of known bad files, Chrome also does checks on executable files (like “.exe” and “.msi” files). If the executable doesn’t match a whitelist, Chrome checks with Google for more information, such as whether the website you’re accessing hosts a high number of malicious downloads”

They also announced intentions to update Chrome OS to improve Chromebook functionality:

In the near future, we will also begin rolling out updates to Chrome OS to further simplify the Chromebook experience. With a new image editor, Chromebook users will be able to quickly view, edit and share photos on the web. Users will also see an improved Verizon 3G activation portal, which includes the ability to set up a recurring purchase of mobile data.

Today, Google also unveiled their Screenwise initiative. The program works only in Chrome and allows Google to monitor your web activity so Google can generate info on how people browse. Participation in the program is optional, and Google is now taking email applications. You won’t be letting Google spy on you for nothing – they are offering up to $25 in Amazon gift cards to willing participants.

From the release (I don’t read German and so this is translated using Chrome’s built-in translating device so I remove myself from any responsibility for awful translations):

By using Google Chrome in conjunction with the other measures outlined above, you can reduce the risk of a successful IT greatly reduce attack.

Equally beneficial in Google Chrome is the auto-update feature, which also integrated the Adobe Flash Player covers. Thus, the Adobe Flash Player is kept up to date.

The report goes on to say other encouraging things about Chrome, such as calling it a “central component for using any online service.” Google accepted the endorsement graciously (is there any other way to accept praise, though?) in a post to their official blog earlier today:

Security has always been a core focus of Chrome, so we’re particularly honored to see several of its security benefits recognized in the report.

The results are adorable, insightful, and they provide a glimpse into what we subject our kids to on a daily basis. The video also provides a good reminder that your logos should be simple and impactful; lest you become like the Olympics, and your logo comes out looking baby toys. Hey, they do look like baby toys…

Thanks to a NetMarketshare, we have an idea of the ride each browser took during 2011 in relation to usage. Immediately, you will notice Microsoft’s browser hovering around the 60 percent mark, but its total is steadily decreasing. In fact, the only browser to experience a noticeable gain, again, according to NetMarketShare’s research, was Google Chrome. Most surprisingly, at least to this writer, is the lack of a jump for Safari, Apple’s native browser.

As consumers continue to embrace all things shiny devices starting with a lowercase “i,” they apparently don’t use Safari when they access the web with their iDevice. Even more surprising than Safari’s lack of an increase is the fact that it remains firmly under the 10 percent mark in relation to marketshare. Are iOwners simply avoiding Safari in favor of another browser? Whatever the case, Safari’s incredibly low usage numbers are somewhat eyebrow-raising.

Here’s NetMarketshare’s browser breakdown for 2011, presented in graph form:

Over at the Google Chrome Blog, the stable release of Sign in to Google was announced, and while the personalization features it introduces may seem minor, to those who don’t like working in different environments, getting used to someone else’s browser setup won’t be an issue. As the post indicates, the Chrome sign in allows users to “take your Chrome stuff with you, so you can always have your personal Chrome experience on all of your devices.”

The concept is simple, with a Google Chrome account activated on one device and you change something on the current device’s setup — that is, add a bookmark — the change is reflected on all other Chrome-enabled devices, provided the user is signed in when the change was made.

The Chrome sign in works if there’s a shared computer involved as well. Google’s post explains:

With today’s Stable channel release, you can now add new users to Chrome. Adding new users lets you each have your own personal Chrome experience, and lets you each sign in to Chrome to sync your stuff. To add a new user to Chrome, go to Options (Preferences on a Mac), click “Personal Stuff,” and click “Add new user.” Check out our latest Beta blog post for a few quick tips.

The steps for adding a new user are as follows:

1. Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
2. Select Options (Preferences on Mac and Linux).
3. Click Personal Stuff.
4. In the “Users” section, click Add new user.
5. A new window for the user appears, with a special icon for the user in the top corner. Here, you can sign in to Chrome with a Google Account to associate the account with the user. Once signed in, all the bookmarks, apps, extensions, theme, and browser settings for the user will be synced to the account.

There’s also a video of the Sign in to Chrome in action:

Does this level of personalization apply to you? Is it a feature you could see yourself using? Let us know what you think.

At least according to some stats offered by the Microsoft blog for Internet Explorer.

According to their findings, Internet Explorer 9 is the most popular browser on the Windows 7 operating system in both a worldwide and a United States basis. Granted, in the worldwide scheme, Google Chrome is neck-and-neck with IE 9, something the following graph demonstrates quite well:

According to Net Applications, IE9 usage share on Windows 7 worldwide is now higher than all versions of Chrome and all versions of Firefox – second only to IE8. That’s great news for consumers and developers alike who can benefit from the richer web experiences and standards support in IE9!

The exclamation point is a great way to relay Microsoft’s excitement.

The question is, what do US web surfers know that the global audience doesn’t? Actually, that question is a two-way street, because you can look at it both ways. Do global users know something their American counterparts don’t? Or do they simply prefer a non-Microsoft browser when perusing the web? For those of you who prefer IE 9, have you tried other browsers or are you satisfied with the default model, making you less apt to try alternatives?

Let us know what you think, because according to Microsoft’s findings, there are a lot of you out there.

And, of course, with power comes more money, and, yes, women (or men), too.

While these studies pop up pretty much on a monthly basis, they serve as good barometer for the Internet habits of people, at least in relation to how they surf the Worldwide Web. In the latest report from StatCounter, it appears as if Firefox as fallen from grace, at least in relation to Google Chrome, because, for the first time, Chrome has overtaken Firefox in relation to the amount of users each browser has.

StatCounter provides a chart of their findings and as you can see, Chrome’s path has been one of steady ascension, while Firefox and Internet Explorer both show a consistent decrease of users, although, with Firefox, the decrease has been at a slower rate:

…Chrome took 25.69% of the worldwide market (up from 4.66% in November 2009) compared to Firefox’s 25.23%. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still maintains a strong lead globally with 40.63%.

In fact, the reports of Internet Explorer’s demise, despite the steady decline, may have been exaggerated, especially in the United States:

In the US, Internet Explorer continues to perform strongly and is maintaining market share at 50.66%, up slightly from 50.24% year on year…

Of course, there’s still some backlash towards Microsoft’s browser, which was so eloquently captured by the Reddit community with the following gif:

That being said, Google Chrome still poses a legitimate threat to Internet Explorer’s dominance, something StatCounter believes as well:

“We can look forward to a fascinating battle between Microsoft and Google as the pace of growth of Chrome suggests that it will become a real rival to Internet Explorer globally,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. “Our stats measure actual browser usage, not downloads, so while Chrome has been highly effective in ensuring downloads our stats show that people are actually using it to access the web also.”

Does this mean Firefox is the odd man out in relation to being the browser of choice? What browser are you loyal to? Are you still an Internet Explorer user or have you moved on to one of the alternatives? Let us know what you think.

Another neat feature of this Beta release is that if you share a computer with family or friends you can now each have a personalized Chrome experience, by letting each user sign into Chrome sync.

If you wish to obtain the new Beta release, the official Google Chrome blog states:

“To try it out, go to Options (Preferences on Mac), click Personal Stuff, and click “Add new user.” A fresh instance of Chrome will open, ready to be customized with its own set of apps, bookmarks, extensions, and other settings. A badge in the upper corner lets you know at a glance that this new Chrome browser belongs to you, and you can customize the name and badge as you like. Clicking this badge drops down a menu of all the users on that computer, so you can easily switch between them. In addition, each user can sign in to Chrome to access their own personalized Chrome across all their computers.

One thing to keep in mind is that this feature isn’t intended to secure your data against other people using your computer, since all it takes is a couple of clicks to switch between users. We want to provide this functionality as a quick and simple user interface convenience for people who are already sharing Chrome on the same computer today. To truly protect your data from being seen by others, please use the built-in user accounts in your operating system of choice.”

Personally, this is a pretty great update for anyone who shares a computer with someone else. Well done Chrome team.

Does this mean the end of IE as we know it? Not exactly. As indicated, even with it falling under the halfway point in terms of usage, at 49.58 percent of the market share, Internet Explorer still has more users than the rest of the listed browsers combined. According to the report from NetMarketShare, via FavBrowser.com, Internet Explorer’s two biggest competitors, Firefox and Chrome, have a combined market share of 37.8 percent. It’s only when you add in the reach of Safari, Opera and the ubiquitous “other” browser (8.54%, 1.49%, and 2.59%), does the total number eclipse IE’s share.

Have a look:

W3Schools is a website for people with an interest for web technologies. These people are more interested in using alternative browsers than the average user. The average user tends to the browser that comes preinstalled with their computer, and do not seek out other browser alternatives.[Emphasis added]

The bold section of the previous blockquote helps explain Internet Explorer’s still sizable market share quite well. Of course, as more and more people move away from the traditional methods of browsing in favor of mobile devices and tablet computers, expect these numbers to continue their adjustment.

Besides Internet Explorer’s drop in usage, another thing that stands out is Google Chrome’s increase, which was by more than one percentage point. In September, Chrome’s share was 15.17 percent, and for October, its share increased to 16.59 percent. Google’s browser was the the largest gaining in terms of market share. In fact, it was the only browser to increase by a full point.

Safari experienced gains as well, but not as much as Chrome. Apple’s browser saw its market share increase by .51 percentage points, making it the second highest browser in terms of gains.

Before we delve into what the project entails, and Google Chrome’s role, here’s the commercial in question:

As for the Johnny Cash project, the idea is pretty damn cool. Cash’s last studio recording was “Ain’t No Grave,” and the project is asking web users to contribute frames to a fan-made video for the song in question. According to the statistics, over 250,000 people from over 170 different countries contributed to the project, and this is what they’ve come up with.

The video, besides featuring a finished product, also features interview snippets of frame contributors. The final product, much like the song itself is haunting, but it’s also an incredible song and the crowd sourced video is filled with the same kind of quality:

The Johnny Cash Project is a global collective art project, and we would love for you to participate. Through this website, we invite you to share your vision of Johnny Cash, as he lives on in your mind’s eye. Working with a single image as a template, and using a custom drawing tool, you’ll create a unique and personal portrait of Johnny. Your work will then be combined with art from participants around the world, and integrated into a collective whole: a music video for “Ain’t No Grave”, rising from a sea of one-of-a-kind portraits.

From this writer’s perspective, not including the Haitian earthquake/map recreation, this is one of the more impressive uses of crowd sourcing I’ve seen. Granted, the final product will essentially be just a music video, but then again, we’re not talking about just any artist here. Because of the subject, Johnny Cash, the medium transcends mere music entertainment.

Instead, it becomes a touching memorial for one of the most gifted musicians to grace the American music scene.