Chrome finally hits the big version 100

Google has started rolling out Chrome 100 for users on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, the company announced today. The historic update appears fairly minor after actually installing it, but does include some tweaks to the Chrome icon, according to 9to5Google.

Shadows — The major difference? The shadows inside the red, green, and yellow pinwheels of the Chrome icon are totally gone across all versions of the browser, with individual icons designed to match even more with their given operating system. On macOS, the shadow-free icon sits like a raised button on its square white background. On Windows, the icon lays flat, fitting with the rest of Windows 11’s streamlined design.

Chrome’s last major feature change was the addition of a sidebar with bookmarks and a more easily accessible reading list last week.

Per Chromes “What’s new” landing page after you update to version 100, Google lists recently added features like a Safety Check for your passwords, Enhanced Safe Browsing, and more controls for limiting location tracking, microphone and camera use, and notifications. How-To Geek has a good summary of many of the other features that are available in Chrome version 100.

Y2K — Concerns were raised in the months before Google’s update that a triple-digit release number, which is also coded into browsers’ User-Agent string, could end up causing a Y2K-style wave of broken sites that weren’t ready to process the new digit — including relatively notable examples like Yahoo or HBO Go. Luckily, there was a plan in place.

Mozilla provided a nice explanation you can read on its blog that goes into why errors like this happen in the first place. Like Y2K, a lot of work was done before Chrome 100 was even released to keep things from breaking, The Verge writes. Downloading it today, it’s possible you won’t see anything unusual at all.