Chrome embraces Windows 7 jumplists

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 11 Aug 2009 at 13:50

Google has introduced support for Windows 7's jumplists in the latest developer build of its browser.

The developer builds are released nightly, often with untried new features or bug fixes that Google isn't comfortable folding into the stable release. Build 3.0.197.11 goes where only Internet Explorer 8 had trod before, opening its arms to Windows 7.

The Jumplist is accessed by right clicking on the Chrome icon in the taskbar and offer immediate access to a recently visited sites, closed tabs and browser functions – including opening Chrome’s private browsing mode.

Anybody familiar with the layout of Internet Explorer 8’s jumplist will feel right at home, with the two sharing an identical layout. Though a small change, jumplists are a hugely intuitive and useful feature of Windows 7 and make a big difference to Chrome. It’s unclear whether the feature will migrate to the stable build in time for Windows 7’s 22 October release.

The introduction of the Jumplist continues Google’s constant drip feed of features through the developer channel, which has already seen the browser adopt easy theming, with support for extensions expected in the near future.

To find out more about the Google Chrome developer build, and why we're infatuated with it, visit the blogs.