{"id":660564,"date":"2013-05-28T14:49:06","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=649791"},"modified":"2013-05-28T14:49:06","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:49:06","slug":"why-you-want-the-new-chrome-os-beta-update-immersive-mode-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/660564","title":{"rendered":"Why you want the new Chrome OS Beta update: Immersive mode and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though I need my Chromebook Pixel<\/a>\u00a0for work, I still risk living on the bleeding edge. Instead of running the most stable version of Chrome OS, I took the plunge a few weeks ago to install the Chrome developer channel. That’s cutting edge, particularly for a work computer. Now Chrome OS device owners can enjoy the same new features but with some added stability: Google updated the Chrome OS Beta channel on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"google-chrome-logo1\"<\/a>That means most, if not all, of the nifty new features I’ve been using lately can be had without worrying too much about system crashes and glitches. To be honest, I haven’t seen too many on the dev channel, but beta is surely a safer place to be. So what’s new in Chrome OS\u00a028.0.1500.20 (Platform version: 4100.17.0)<\/p>\n

Immersive mode is one of my favorite new additions. Think of it as a full-screen mode that’s even better<\/em> than the standard full-screen feature. In immersive mode, everything above a web page’s content is pushed off the top the screen; like an auto-hide feature for the URL bar, bookmarks, etc….<\/p>\n

The Chrome OS launcher also autohides on the bottom of the display. The end result: You get a a true full-screen mode and gain a bit of working screen space. (Note: On the dev channel, I had to enable the feature in chrome:\/\/flags; you may need to do the same in beta.) Here’s a look at Techmeme in immersive mode, for example:<\/p>\n

\"Immersive<\/a><\/p>\n

If you look closely, you can see small indicators at the top and bottom of the screenshot; these show the open tabs and apps. You can mouse over these to un-hide the full information bars. I tend to skip that though: Using a three-finger trackpad gesture in dev, I scrub through my tabs quickly.<\/p>\n

Here are a few of the other goodies in the new beta version:<\/p>\n