Google Chrome Frame no longer requires admin rights

Google has announced that a new version of its Chrome Frame no longer requires administrator rights to be installed. First introduced in September 2009, Chrome Frame is an open source browser plug-in that brings Chrome's JavaScript engine, HTML5 and other open web technologies to versions 6, 7, 8 and 9 of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser.

Previously, users have needed administrator (admin) privileges to install the plug-in onto their systems. While this isn't a problem for most home users, in corporate environments, most network administrators limit the system privileges of users on company machines and networks for security reasons. As such, these users have not been able to install Chrome Frame.

The new version no longer requires admin privileges, allowing it to be installed in most cases. According to Google Software Engineer Robert Shield, the new non-admin version of Chrome Frame is currently only available in the company's developer channel (also known as the Dev channel) but it will arrive in the stable channel "very soon".

As with all development releases, use in production environments and on mission critical systems is not advised. Users testing the release are encouraged to provide feedback and report any bugs that they find.

Further information can be found in a post on the Chromium Blog and in the Chrome Frame FAQ. Users can download the new non-admin version of Chrome Frame for Windows XP SP2+, Vista and Windows 7. Chrome Frame is hosted on Google Code.

(crve)