Chrome dropping support for OS X Leopard

Google's Chrome browser is saying goodbye to Leopard, Apple Inc.'s five-year-old version of its OS X operating system. In a July 9 blog post, Chrome team member Jason Kersey said future versions of Chrome for Mac will no longer support OS X version 10.5 and older. "Please note, on Mac we now require 10.6 or higher, and this release will not be available if you are on 10.5 or lower," Kersey said on Chrome's Dev Channel Update. Google is now developing version 22.0.1201.0 of Chrome for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame. Leopard (OS X 10.5) debuted in 2007. The latest OS X is Lion, but Apple is preparing to release the next version of OS X, Mountain Lion. Meanwhile, tech site CNET said Google also announced the beta version of Chrome 21 that holds promise for Web apps. It said one new feature is support for the getUserMedia interface, which lets programmers tap into a computer's camera and microphone. "That's useful for creating Web apps that use videoconferencing and audio chat, or for signing up with a new online service that can take a snapshot for a profile picture," it said. Second is support for the Gamepad interface, which lets programmers write Web-based games that use videogame controllers. CNET noted such tasks had been available to programmers before who used Adobe Systems' Flash Player or who wrote native software using the underlying operating system. — LBG, GMA News