It was last August when Google introduced a beta build of 64-bit Chrome for Mac to the world. After several months of testing, the company is ready to introduce a stable 64-bit version – Google Chrome 39 – to the public.
As Google said when it launched a beta version of 64-bit Chrome for Mac, 64-bit support will bring several speed and security improvements to the browser, in addition to decreasing the amount of memory that it uses.
Google says the 64-bit Chrome is faster, due to a superior instruction set, more registers, and a more efficient calling convention. The new version also features enhanced security.
With no need to load 32-bit versions of system libraries to support it, users who use Macs where Chrome was the last 32-bit app they used will see faster load times, and its overall memory footprint should decrease.
The release of Chrome 39 means the last 32-bit version of Chrome – version 38 – will be retired, which means some older Macs will be unable to use the new Chrome.
Chrome Version 39 can be downloaded via Google’s Chrome website or installed via Chrome’s built-in update functionality. (“Chrome” -> “About Google Chrome.”)
