The State of Google Chrome Extensions on Mac OS X

Google has announced that extensions are now available for Chrome on the Mac via the developer channel. It should be noted, however, that the beta release of Chrome for Mac OS X still lacks extension support. Sadly, that means it is lagging behind both Windows and Linux versions.

If you want to try it out, you can download it here. You should be careful, though. This is in no way a stable release. Be prepared for crashes and funky behavior. If you’d like to try out a less scary version of Chrome, try out the beta.

Now, what does this mean for users? Well, two things: Customizability & Bloat. On one hand, you will be able to tweak Chrome to your liking. A major reason why Mozilla’s Firefox has been so successful is due to their extensions. If you have a special need, you will be able to make this browser do what you want. However, with more features comes more complexity. Google Chrome prides itself on being extremely fast. When you start bogging down your browser with extensions, expect all of that speed to go right down the drain.

What do you think about Google Chrome’s extensions? How do you feel about Google’s lack of focus on the Mac as a platform? Comment here or hit me up on Twitter.

Photo Credit: ceanandjen