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Google Chrome patch fixes vanishing scrollbar

A variety of bug fixes arrive in the latest developer version of Chrome. Also, no restart required to install plug-ins.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland

Did you pine for those missing Gmail scrollbars when using the latest version of Chrome, as I did? Pine no more, because Google said its latest developer release of the open-source browser gives them back.

Chrome 2.0.177.1 is on the developer preview release channel, not the better-tested beta or stable channels, so not everyone will get it. (You can sign up for the developer or beta channels by downloading the Chrome Channel Changer, but be warned that you have to uninstall them if you want to step back immediately to the stable version.)

The new version also lets people install plug-ins such as Adobe Systems' Flash without having to restart the browser. And among other fixes is an update to the V8 JavaScript engine to get the Lala Web site working.

Also, Google is continuing its Chrome marketing spree. On Wednesday, the company showed off 11 artsy promotional videos that follow in the same vein as Chrome comic book that accompanied the browser's debut.

If you're more into the gory details, though, Google also released five technical talks by Chrome engineers on YouTube. The talks range in length from 10 to 28 minutes.

A scene from one of the new Chrome promotional videos.
A scene from one of the new Chrome promotional videos. Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET