Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) pushed its Chrome 8 out of beta yesterday, barely six weeks after the arrival of Chrome 7. Stable release 8.0.552.215 contains more than 800 improvements--of which 13 are security patches, as well as the new inclusion of a built-in PDF reader. As an additional security measure, Google says that the PDF viewer is also secured within a sandbox, a security feature designed to protect the computer from potential malware.

Existing Chrome users should see their browser updated automatically, though do note that this applies only if your version of Chrome is a stable release in the first place. In other news, the latest report from Net Applications notes that Chrome gained 0.78 percentage points of the market share in November. This increase puts the browser at 9.25 percent of the worldwide browser market share, behind Firefox's 22.75 percent and Internet Explorer's 58.06 percent.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at CNET News
- check out this article at Google Chrome Releases
- check out this article at Computerworld
- check out this article at Ars Technica

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