Chrome gives option to remove new-tab thumbnails

One of the features that set Chrome apart from its rivals on its debut, the array of web page thumbnails that greeted users when they launched the browser or opened a new browsing tab, is becoming optional.

In the Chrome 2.0.174.0 update Google released Thursday to those signed up for the raw software available through the preview channel, the browser now includes the "ability to remove thumbnails from the New Tab Page", said Google Chrome programme manager Anthony Laforge in a blog post.

Photo story

Photos: Top 10 alternatives to Internet Explorer

• More Photos

Google also added another tab management feature: an "undo close tab" option in the tab management menu.

Chrome users could resurrect prematurely closed tabs before by opening a new tab then clicking on one of the three "recently closed" items toward the lower right but a menu option seems a sensible way to accommodate those folks who wouldn't think to look on a new page for a way to open an old page.

Also, on Wednesday, Google also released a new version of Chrome to the beta channel, version 2.0.172.5, which offers a better-tested though still rough-around-the-edges version of the open-source browser.

Original article: Chrome update offers tab micromanagement options from CNET News.com