Evolution of the Chrome browser

1. December 12, 2008.
   First finale version for Windows.
2. May 22, 2009.
   Support for Canvas. CSS 3 gradients.
   Auto-completion in forms.
   It is possible to create different profiles with specific configurations of the browser.
   The user can add script to the browser, they will be compatible with those of GreaseMonkey.
   You can import your favorites from your Google account.
   It is now possible to attach two tabs to see two pages at once in the browser window: vidéo.
   
3. September 15, 2009.
   It is possible to change the theme of the browser as is done in Wordpress
   Omnibox search box displays now icons in the suggest list, related to the types of links: bookmarks, suggests, history.
   The <audio> and <video> tags are added.
   
4. January 25, 2010
   Synchronizing bookmarks (a step beyond import). Video explaining how the synchronization works.
   Native Client.
   LocalStorage, Web SQL database, WebSocket for a bidirectionnal exchange of data.
   Extensions are automatically installed or uninstalled.
5. Chrome becomes a full HTML 5 browser.
   Geolocation API allows you to associate the pages of a site to a geographic location, to adapt the content or complemented with information related to the place.
   Drag and drop: moving items from one place to another int the page to make a selection such as choosing a product gallery and add it to the basket ...
   WebSocket is a TCP bidirectional protocol.
6. http:// protocol is now a default and is removed from the address bar while kept in copy/paste, a great idea!
7. WebGL is supported, WebP, WebM, material acceleration. New option panel for cookies. Web applications can access the local file system.
8. The PDF Viewer displays PDF documents with no plugin and inside a sandbox.
   Type about:flags in the URL bar to enable some new functions.
9. Google drops the H.264 codec for the video tag in favor of the sole VP8 codec. WebGL is enabled by default, see the astonishing demos. Cloud print in option for Web apps, without drivers. Creating desktop shortcuts for web apps.
10. March 2011. The incremental compiler Crankshaft further accelerates JavaScript. GPU acceleration for video. The options are now in a tab (as in Advanced Explorer from 1998). Sandobxed Flash. GPU accelerated videos. Apps in the background allowing notifications of received messages.
11. HTML5 Speech Input API included.
12. Ability to delete Flash cookies. Replacing Gears by HTML 5 offline functions. 3D CSS. More secure against phishing. Launching apps by name from the URL bar.
13. July 2011. Instant Pages displays results of the search engine from query in the URL/search bar. PDF preview before printing.
14. September 2011. Native Client built-in. Web audio API.
15. October 2011. Extension manager included into the option panel.
16. December 2011. Multiple users supported with different profiles but without passwords.
17. February 2012. Improved omnibox with prefetching of page and downloads security. The tab for opening a new page has become almost invisible.
18. March 28, 2012. Hardware acceleration for Canvas which benefits WebGL (which brings 3D to Canvas). The SwiftShader framework is also included for systems that do not have the required graphics capabilities.
19. May 15, 2012. Canvas accelerated.
20. June 26, 2012. Support pour une part de JavaScript 6 comme pour Web Intents.
21. July 31, 2012. Amélioration de l'interface.
22. September 25, 2012. The Pointer Lock API now integrated allows you to use the mouse as a joystick, without visible pointer, making it suitable for games.
23. November 6, 2012. Do not track enabled by default, hardware acceleration for video. Site by site options, click on the favicon.
24. January 10, 2013. MathML supported (but it will be removed in version 25).
25. February 23, 2013. Voice recognition support through Web Speech API. Extensions can no longer be installed silently. Content-Security-Policy:script-src='self' prevents cross site security issues. Improvements in indexedDB and audio. MathML replaced by MathJax.
26. March 26, 2013. WebRTC is functional, you may communicate with another remote browser.
27. May 21, 2014. Faster, this version supports the Sync Filesystem API, an alternative to local storage such as HTML 5, but allows synchronization of data between multiple devices connected to a server.
28. July 9, 2013. The rendering engine is now Blink rather than Webkit (Type chrome://version/ in the URL bar). A system of notification that are like Web pages, which may include pictures, is now available for apps.
29. August 20, 2013. Suggestions improved with freshness taken into account in the URL box. Many APIs are added for developers. The VP9 video codec replaces VP8. Support of generators by JavaScript.
30. October 1, 2013. Search for an image is available through the URL field.
31. November 12,2013. Portable Native Client is added, the LLVM code on the server is compiled by the browser to the client system. Web payments added too. An indicator shows the tab pages that make noise.
32. January 14, 2014. Tabs have an icon to indicate a source of sound. Malware is detected during a download. Inside Modern UI on Windows 8, Chrome becomes Chrome OS and make possible to use free applications outside Microsoft's app store!
33. February 14, 2014. Improving page tabs. From this version, all extensions must come from the Play Store. PDF are displayed by default in the browser. Support for the Web Speech API, the new Web Notifications API. Even more interesting, support for Custom Elements, a standard to define new HTML tags.
34. April 8, 2014. The audio API becomes standard (without prefix). Responsible images, ie the size of which is adapted to that of the screen.
35. May 20, 2014. JavaScript now includes Promises and WeakMaps and WeakSets, observe method of Object. Other additions: Shadow DOM is now standard, loading fonts in CSS.
36. July 17, 2014. HTML imports and entire Web Components. CSS animation with animate(). Objects.observe() in JavaScript.
37. August 26, 2014 DirectWrite is an API for best font rendering on Windows replacing GDI. A save option for password is added.
38. October 7, 2014.
    New picture tag: different images are displayed according to the device.
39. November 18, 2014.
    New APIs and bug fixes. Replaced NPAPI, a cross-browser plugin architecture by PPAPI a version from Google.
40. January 21, 2015. The Service Workers API speeds up the offline mode.
41. March 3, 2015. Support to ES 6 templates (string interpolation), Developer tools improved. Turbofan is a JavaScript optimizer, it is not yet applied to the JS code in web pages, but only onb Asm.js, a subset of JS. See Asm.js for universal applications compatibility.
42. April 14, 2015. Push notifications with the Push API. NAPI (cross-browser extensions) is no longer supported by default.
43. May 19, 2015. Supports the MIDI audio format.
44. July 22, 2015. JavaScript: You can use an expression for object property name. Comme cut/copy for the clipboard. Cache API for offline applications. API permissions. Standard CSS animations.
45. September 1, 2015. The ads in Flash can not start automatically. Arrows functions in JavaScript and new methods of Array: from, of, fill, find, findIndex, copyWithin.
46. October 14, 2015. Reactivity to ambient light. Animated PNG images. CSS grid layout. Notification buttons. MediaRecorder. Intersection Observer API. Canvas saving in a blog. Regions hits in Canvas. CompositorWorker. JavaScript ES6: destructuring assignment, default parameters. And many other changes.
47. Décember 1, 2015. Security fixes.
48. January 20, 2016. Security panel added to development tools.
49. March 2, 2016. MediaRecorder API for recording audio and video. Differed sync API. Safe-Data header to display a lighter page if needed.
50. April 13, 2016. Notifications are improved. The <link rel="url"> attribute allows to preload a file (eg an image) before the page.
51. May 25, 2016 New Credential Management API (Identity Management). Intersection Observer API to be informed when an element passes in a displayed area. SPDY is replaced by HTTP/2.
52. July 20, 2016. CSS Containment. The contain property indicates that the style of an element is independent of the containers. PerformanceObserver API to know the sites performance.
    Backspace from the keyboard no longer supported.
53. August 31, 2016. Shadow DOM: standard Web component that allows a local style to a visual component, independent of the DOM of the page. Experimental Bluetooth. Many changes to developers and security.
54. October 14, 2016. The embedded video player is now in HTML 5. Custom Elements in version 1 (custom tags). BroadcastChannel enables direct communication between workers and pages.
55. December 1, 2016. Async/await. Use near 30% less memory (but that may prevent some js scripts to run). Download button for media.
56. January 26, 2017. WebGL 2.0 is supported. Non-https pages with forms are reported to users. FLAC audio codec. Web API Bluetooth and on Android WebVR and GamePad.
57. March 9, 2017. Supports Web Assembly and CSS Grid Layout, like the version 52 of Firefox.
58. April 19, 2017. New version of the Ignition bytecode interpreter and Tubofan optimizer that completely replace the JavaScript tools in Chrome. This gives a performance gain and a reduction in the memory used. Node.js is accelerated by 10% according to the AcmeAir tester. Supports IndexedDB 2.0. Attribute CSS display: fullscreen.
59. June 6, 2017. The headless mode allows to operate Chrome with a robot, without display. Image Capture API, including screenshoot of the while page.. Support of APNG, animated PNG format.
60. July 25, 2017. New CSS font-display property. Budget Web API for notification management. VP9 and MP4 are available by default. Management of bookmarks possible from the keyboard.
61. September 5, 2017. ECMAScript modules are supported. Web Share API on Android puts the native sharing features available in the browser. WebUSB API allows applications to communicate with devices. Visual Viewport API makes it easy to zoom.
62. October 17, 2017. The Network Information API adds performance metrics. OpenType font with font-variable-settings. captureStream () allows processing on audio or video content.
63. December 6, 2017. JavaScript: The import() function allows the dynamic inclusion of modules. Async generators. The Device Memory API gives applications access to the devices' memory. CSS: Overscroll-behavior to associate a function with the ends of the scroll bar. Added the minimal-ui value to the display property. NTLM v2. Improvement of Web Storage.
64. January 24, 2018. Blocker of pop-up is reinforced. Support for the Resize Observer API. Enhanced development tools.
65. March 6, 2018. CSS Paint API generates a scripted image for the img tag. The Server Timing API for servers to indicate their response time in a HTTP header.
66. April 17, 2018. Videos with sound that start when the page is loaded are restricted. The CSS Typed Model Object makes it easier to use styles. The clipboard becomes asynchronous. New rendering context for Canvas for images. TextArea and Select benefit from auto-completion.
67. May 31, 2018. WebAuthn makes it possible on smartphones to identify oneself on websites without password, with biometric sensors. WebXR is a virtual reality API. Access to mobile sensors. For the desktop, Chrome makes it easier to create PWA (Progressive Web App).
68. July 25, 2018. Support for the Payment Handler API. Different minor technical improvements.
69. August 4, 2018. The interface is modified with rounded corners. Added CSS Scroll snap that improves the scrolling of content. The Web Locks API allows you to limit access to a resource to an application temporarily.
70. Install PWA on Windows 10. Public Key Credential allows you to authenticate by fingerprint on a website with a smartphone. Web Bluetooth on Windows 10 to communicate with devices. Development tools are also improved.
71. December 14, 2018. Shadow DOM v1 better implemented. Better Together connects Android and Chrome OS. Blocking advertising on offensive sites. Blocks sounds that triggers automatically.
72. February 19, 2019. Modified parameter page. Support for Web Authentication API. Popups blocked when unloading a page.
73. March 12, 2019. Auto Picture-in-Picture for PWA, allows you to keep an embedded video when you change pages. Improvement of accessibility in general.

Each new version increases performances:

• Chrome 1: 100%
• Chrome 2: 200%
• Chrome 3: 300%
• Chrome 4: 400%
• Chrome 5 and followers: Faster again.
• Actually as shows the chart on the Chrome blog, the version number is as a speed multiplier until 4!
• Chrome's performance vs. other browsers.
• In November 2010, an optimizer for the V8 compiler named Crankshaft increases again the speed of 50% and makes V8 the fastest JavaScript compiler on the market.
• In 2012, the sum of improvements has accelerated the browser by 26%.
• In 2013 the JavaScript compiler is optimized on Asm.js instructions.