Just out of curiosity, when are they going to take Gmail out of beta? I mean seriously, it's been 4 years for crying out loud...

And while they're at it, do something with Grand Central already cause it's freakin' great... but yet another stalled service Google hastily acquired and has done nothing with. I don't even have invites to give to countless other friends seeking access.

That's unfortunate, considering how unstable it is. There's one issue in particular that's extremely frustrating. Say you have multiple monitors, in my case I have 4, 2 of which are attached via a USB2DVI adapter. Every time I start Google Chrome all my screens will flicker and reset their settings, leaving me to have to redefine my monitors and their positions. It boggles my mind that Chrome needs to interface with the monitors at all, and oddly enough I've only experienced this issue with Chrome.

"The Google’s open source browser has a number of eager customers, including OEMs who can’t offer the browser until it is in full release"

Considering how much bullshit is attached to the 'beta' tags these days, especially when it comes to Google I have a hard time believing this.

So let's say the OEM has a requirement that they don't ship 'beta' software. Google just says "it's not beta" and whamo! They can ship it.

Is there any real actual tangible difference between a Google product that is beta/not?

I'd wager the case is that they'de be required to provide support if the product is out of beta.

That was quick!

With Gmail, if something is wrong in the code, they can fix it and everything is fine in a matter of hours/days. With Chrome, if there's a problem in the code, they can fix the bug, but then it could be months or years before people actually upgrade Chrome.

Desktop software requires a higher standard because you can't just fix things that are wrong.

Chrome actually updates itself automatically in the background.

Tell me about it. GoogleUpdate.exe keeps coming back no matter what I do.

That was essentially the reason I found this interesting. Considering (as another comment correctly states) Gmail has been in Beta for 4 years. Google almost singlehandedly started the "perpetual beta" mantra, and suddenly, Chrome, which happens to be a complex piece of software, is out of beta.

Makes me think... Why?

Chrome has been in development since spring of 2006. It has been around much longer than it has been public.

Just a guess, but they may feel that having the beta label on a downloadable app tends to turn people off, whereas people don't mind beta web apps (its the norm and they won't screw up your system).

It could be something simple. It could be that the people who decide whether Gmail is a beta or not aren't the people who decide whether Chrome is a beta or not.

Because It is a desktop software, not a web application.

Are they going to come out with a Mac version first?

I wish. But probably not.