Google Chrome Canary

Before the regular stable version that reaches the end user, Google Chrome goes through multiple phases, starting with Canary, continuing with Dev and Beta and finally reaching the Stable release. Since the browser is based on Chromium, which is open source, all versions are available to the public, for testing purposes. Because it is first in this long cycle, it would make sense to opt for Google Chrome Canary if you want to see what features are being tested and implemented into Chrome, when they are fresh out of the oven. However, this does come with some drawbacks, like stability issues and full-on crashes, so using this as your default browser wouldn't be advisable, even if you'd have the option to make it so.

Google Chrome Canary can be installed just like the normal version. The setup file is small and it can be downloaded fast and it should only take a few seconds to complete the installation process. The hardware requirements are modest and there is no need to install any special tools or services.

In terms of appearance, Google Chrome Canary is nearly identical to the stable release. Furthermore, you can expect the same basic functionality, along with some extra bells and whistles. The main advantage here is the fact that you can play around with features that are planned for future Chrome versions.

There are a few things worth knowing about when delving into Google Chrome Canary. First of all, Canary is not known for its stability, since it incorporates new and experimental features. Furthermore, although you can test new features while they're fresh out of the oven, some of them might not make it to the final stable release. This is why user feedback is so important in this case. Regardless if you are an amateur or a power user, if you have anything to say about Canary's functionality, you should probably share it with the devs.

Another aspect you should be aware of is the fact that Google Chrome Canary is constantly changing. New updates are constantly made available, to add new features and even remove some that will never make it to a later stage. The updates are managed by a bot, which may account for some of Canary's stability issues, since no human being is overlooking anything regarding the source tree structure update.

If you want to see what features are planned and experimented with for future Google Chrome versions, you won't get them any sooner than with Google Chrome Canary.