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Google disables internal PDF plug-in in Chrome dev channel update
Ahh, the thrill of running bleeding-edge software! It's not for the feint of heart, to be sure. Heck, it's not even for someone who has a perfectly strong heart but doesn't do well with watching features appear and disappear on a regular basis.Take Chrome's nifty internal PDF plug-in. Just a few days ago, Google dropped the need for a command line switch to activate it, enabling it by default for users of the dev channel build. Today, however, another update was pushed and the plug-in has once again been switched off.
You can still enable the plug-in if you wish -- just visit chrome://plugins and click enable underneath the Chrome PDF Viewer.
It's likely that the Chrome team is just ironing out a few kinks prior to pushing the plug-in to the beta channel. With Chrome's accelerated release schedule, it probably won't be long before the PDF viewer joins the internal Flash plug-in on Chrome installs everywhere.
Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsKualaBeeJul 30th 2010 10:40PM
Love the Chrome security model. I been running every plugin in Chrome's sandbox model by adding the -safe-plugins command, and it feels great not too have to worry as much about things such as zero day flash vulnerabilities for example.
AdamJul 30th 2010 11:27PM
This was most likely done because the pdf plugin simply did not work on Mac or Linux machines. It would display a blank window with "Missing Plugin" displayed in the center. I love seeing how responsive the Chrome devs are to these sorts of issues.
JasonJul 31st 2010 12:43AM
IMHO, it wasn't ready for prime time because once it loaded, it wasn't clear how to do all the things you're used to doing with PDF. I don't want to dig through the wrench menu to zoom, or save.
Adobe brings exploits, no argument; but, the UX of that plugin is too minimalist for business use right now.
AlanJul 31st 2010 12:45AM
I sold my soul to chrome... guide us where they may... i don't care anymore!
dummydecoyaccountJul 31st 2010 4:28AM
Speaking of PDFs, (I'm using the stable version) is there a way for chrome to automatically open PDF url links without showing the save as dialog box?
ProlornAug 1st 2010 4:39AM
Not sure what you mean. If you have Adobe Reader installed, you should be able to view PDF files right in your browser. If you do not have Reader installed, or you disabled its plugin in Chrome's options, you can either download the file to view with whatever alternative PDF reader you use, or view PDFs online using Google Doc's PDF reader extension for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nnbmlagghjjcbdhgmkedmbmedengocbn
dummydecoyAug 1st 2010 9:52PM
Ah, sorry, I forgot to mention that I am using the portable version of chrome on my PC as well as a portable version of PDFX viewer. I have Adobe Reader installed. I have set the .pdf file extension in windows (using the right click, open with...) to automatically open in PDFX portable. But when I click a pdf link in chrome, I get a save as dialog box asking me where I want to save it. After the download completes, PDFX opens the pdf. What I would like is for chrome to open the PDF directly in a new tab.
theremoverJul 31st 2010 8:13AM
I can't believe Windows users still have to jump through hoops just to open a PDF (or install some clunky intrusive piece of adobe software).
I know how tired the mac vs pc thing is, but I'd think windows PC users would want or have something equivalent to the "Preview" app on windows by now.
The most pleasant PDF viewing experience i've ever had.