One of the many fresh approaches Google took on when they introduced their Chrome browser is the common software developing cliche release early, release often. It’s apparent that Google attaches very little significance to the version number as traditionally, a point release – 1.0, 2.0, etc. – signifies a major new feature set or design. Chrome has always been different and as such, the current beta of Chrome is sitting at version 12 yet you’d be hard pressed to identify differences from version 11 or 10 previously.

Releasing early and often introduces another challenge – how do you aide your users in keeping current? Firefox has an update mechanism that notifies users when a new version is available but the actually installation process requires intervention by the user. Google, however, transparently updates Chrome while you remain none the wiser. It was a rather controversial decision in it’s infancy but, as with many changes, the furor quickly flames out as the change becomes the standard. With no version number prominence in Chrome you truly remain oblivious – it just happens and that’s awesome to me.

The update mechanism extends further – to the browser extensions you’ve manually installed. Just like Chrome, the extensions are updated automatically behind the scenes. This is equally fantastic! However there may arise situations where automatically isn’t as timely as one would hope. In this instance it would be handy to intervene and initiate the process yourself, directly.

Access the Chrome extensions list by either entering chrome://extensions in the address bar or through the Tools->Extensions.

Expand the Developer mode link.

Then click the Update extensions now button.

It’s actually that simple! One lasting word of advice, I’d recommend restarting the browser once the extensions have been updated just to ensure everything has been refreshed and not referencing stale code.