Google is improving the performance of tabs in Chrome, according to a new blog post, and the changes could lead to speed gains of up to 10 percent. “When you’re checking off one task after another from your to-do list, waiting even a few seconds while your tabs load can slow you down,” Google’s Alex Ainslie wrote.
Chrome will speed up loading times for active tabs by taking back resources from those that’ve been idle for awhile, according to a Chromium post. “We see improvements not only in loading speed but also battery and memory savings,” Chrome engineering director Max Christoff wrote.
Chrome is also adding tab previews, which will show you a thumbnail of the website in each tab as you hover over it. PDF support is getting more powerful too, with Ainslie promising that “over the next few weeks, you’ll be able to fill out PDF forms and save them with your inputs, directly from Chrome. If you open the file again, you can pick up where you left off.”
That’s just one of several productivity features coming to Chrome today. Now, when you hover over a tab, you’ll see a thumbnail preview of the page. You can also fill out and save PDFs directly in Chrome or use Adobe’s PDF shortcuts. And soon, when you’re using your laptop in tablet mode, you’ll be able to swipe through tabs and browse the web using touchscreen controls. That feature will appear first on Chromebooks.
