Google Chrome For Mac Will Finally Go 64-Bit

Just about every Mac you’d see in operation nowadays has a 64-bit CPU tucked inside. Apple started making the switch from 32-bit to 64-bit nearly a decade ago, after all.

And yet, Chrome has always stubbornly insisted on running at 32-bit on OS X. That’ll change soon.

Two days after declaring the Windows’ version of 64-Bit Chrome as “stable”, Google has just published the first beta build of 64-Bit Chrome for Mac. (The only way to get 64-bit support before this was to run Canary, the ultra-early adopter build of Chrome that comes with explicit warnings that it’ll probably crash constantly. It’s not even guaranteed to launch.)

As with most things that come to Chrome, 64-Bit support will be limited to users on the Beta channel at first. So it’s still not part of the standard build of Chrome that most people use, but it’s at least available in a form that isn’t likely to break on the regular.

So what’s the advantage of going 64-bit? To be honest, most users probably won’t notice Chrome itself getting any faster (though it might launch a bit quicker)… but it might actually help your overall system run a bit smoother.

You see, pretty much all modern, popular OS X apps are 64-bit. When you launch a 32-bit app like Chrome, the system has to load a whole bunch of junk into memory to support it. Assuming that you’re not running any other 32-bit apps, Chrome’s newfound 64-bit friendliness means that memory footprint is now free’d up for other uses. Hurrah!

Comments

How To Hide Text In Microsoft Word 2007, Reveal It & Protect It

Sometimes what we hide is more important than what we reveal. Especially, documents with sensitive information, some things are supposed to be ‘for some eyes only’. Such scenarios are quite common, even for the more un-secretive among us. You want to show someone a letter composed in MS Word, but want to keep some of the content private; or it’s an official letter with some part of it having critical data. As important as these two are, the most common use could involve a normal printing job. Many a time we have to print different versions of a document, one copy for one set of eyes and others for other sets. Rather than creating multiple copies and therefore multiple printing jobs, what if we could just do it from the same document? That too, without the hassle of repeated cut and paste. We can, with a simple feature in MS Word – it’s just called Hidden and let me show you how to use it to hide text in Microsoft Word 2007. It’s a simple single click process. Open the docum...

Boom, the startup that wants to build supersonic planes, just signed a massive deal with Virgin

Have you heard about Boom? Boom is a relatively new startup that’s aiming to build something pretty crazy. They’re not building an app… or a social network… or even some new gadget for the Kickstarter crowd. Boom wants to build planes. Really, really, really fast planes. Specifically, they’re trying to design and build a supersonic passenger plane that goes 2.2x the speed of sound. If all goes to plan, they’ll be able to shuttle people from New York to London in 3.5 hours, and SF to Tokyo in 4.5. Sound crazy? I wouldn’t disagree. It’s worth noting that the company is in the very early days for something as intensive, massive, and hugely expensive as designing and producing a passenger aircraft. They’re still working on their first prototype, and hope to fly it by late next year. But it’s also worth noting that the team behind the plane has some serious talent in its blood: the company’s 11 employees have collectively contributed to over 30 aircrafts — having worked on thin...

Build Your Own Awesome Personal 3D Avatar with Avatara

Do you use social networks and want to build your own awesome 3D avatar? Maybe you want to send someone a cute cuddly image of yourself (kind of)? Or maybe you have your own ideas of what you would do with an Avatar… Well look no further than Avatara which I discovered from the MakeUseOf directory . You can create 3d avatars out of pre-set up templates or create your own from scratch. To start, visit Avatara’s homepage . You will see this screen: Click Get Started to umm, get started! That will take you to this screen: You see that you can build your own Avatar using an uploaded head shot like the Obama one above (just an example, guys). Or roll with one of their awesome avatars. I chose to start with a blank avatar by clicking Start with a blank avatar at the bottom of the screen. That takes you to here: I clicked on the filter at the top and told it to filter out everything but male characters and then I saw this: I rolled with Buck and continued. You need to click Select...

Kiran Upadhyay

Search This Blog