Google Chrome's redesign has launched in Canary

In the bowels of Chrome experimental development, a new version of the web browser brews. It has a new tab shape, single tab mode, and so much more. And you can try it out now.

The redesigned Chrome is now available on Canary for Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. Canary is an experimental version of Chrome that has the latest features in development.

Please note: Chrome Canary is designed for developers and early adopters — so download it at your own risk, and don't be surprised if the program occasionally crashes.

Spotted by Engadget, the news comes via self-described "Chromium Evangelist" François Beaufort. Chromium is the open-source version of Chrome, that contributors like Beaufort work on. It's where a lot of ideas and features get tested and kicked around before making it into Canary, and ultimately the stable version of Chrome.

The redesign is part of Google's Material Design push, which is a toolkit to unify User Interface across Google products. A side-by-side comparison of the three dots drop-down menu in the upper right corner shows the design differences.

Anyone can try out the redesign now with Chrome flags in Canary. Flags allow users to enable experimental features like the redesign.

"Users can set experimental flags chrome://flags/#top-chrome-mdto 'Refresh' and enable chrome://flags/#views-browser-windowsto try it out now," Beaufort writes.

So what's in the update? According to Beaufort, it's "tab shape, single tab mode, omnibox suggestion icons, tab strip coloring, pinned tabs, and alert indicators." Using the new browser, it also seems faster, though there isn't documentation that specifically addresses that.

It's hard not to notice that the more rectangular tab shape looks a biiiit like Mozilla Firefox. But OK.

Happy experimental browser testing!