The much-awaited Chrome 100 update has finally arrived with several new features and changes, including a new version number, refreshed logo, and tweaks to the user-agent string, among others.This latest version of Chrome was released at the end of March and comes weeks after Chrome 99 was released to the stable channel. Chrome 100 is now being rolled out to stable channels across Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms.Here are some of the major highlights and key features of Chrome 100 you should check out.

1. Three-Digit Version Number

With over 28 security fixes, Chrome 100 marks the first of the three-digit version number series of the Chrome browser. It is the most prominent change from Chrome 99 to Chrome 100.

And just like Chrome, other popular Chromium-based browsers such as Firefox and Edge are also set to reach version 100 in the coming months. This marks a critical milestone in modern web browser development.

Chrome 1 was released back in September 2008. Over time, Google has shortened its major update release cycle from once in six weeks to once every four weeks. In between, however, you can still find smaller updates being released regularly.

2. User-Agent Strings

You can now test if your site is Chrome 100 compliant. We have earlier reported that Chrome 100 could break some websites due to compatibility issues arising from transitioning from two to three-digit user-agent strings, as well as how Google is tackling it.

As a quick fix for site breakage or malfunctioning due to Chrome 100, you can simply go to chrome://flags on your Chrome browser and search for and enable the #force-major-version-to-minor Chrome flag.

Enable or disable Chrome 100 User-Agent String flags

In a related development, the #force-major-version-to-100 flag (which allowed you to force the major version from any of Chrome 96-99 to Chrome 100 before the Chrome 100 release) may no longer work if you're Chrome 100 compliant or if you've enabled the #force-major-version-to-minor flag.

3. Logo Refresh

Another significant update in Chrome 100 is the refreshed logo. It looks pretty similar to the previous icon at first glance as seen in the image below.

However, upon closer observation, you'll notice subtle differences. For instance, the center circle in Chrome 100 appears bigger. Also, the colors have been retouched and enhanced.

The shadows have been dropped, and the logo is now flattened. This gives the Chrome logo a more modernist vibe. The new icon will be customized for platforms, with distinct appearances on Windows and Mac.

4. Lite Mode Removed

If you relied on Chrome Lite to compress pages and save mobile data, it may interest you to know that Lite Mode has been removed from Chrome 100. This is because Google believes it has run its course.

Craig Tumbilson, Chrome's Support Manager, explained via a blog post that Lite mode has become less necessary and Chrome has generally become more data-efficient, thus necessitating its deprecation.

Lite mode was first introduced to the Android platform in 2014 to make pages load faster and save data. It was known as Chrome Data Saver but has now been removed from Chrome in version 100.

5. Other Developer Tools

If you're a developer, you'll find some interesting Chrome Dev Tools available in Chrome 100 including a Digital Goods API and Multi-Screen Window Placement API.

Other Dev Tools features of interest include the ability to view and edit @supports at rule in the Styles pane, recorder panel improvements, the ability to preview class/function properties on hover and partially presented frames in the Performance panel.

You can learn more about these dev tools on the Chrome Dev Tools site.

Chrome 100 Leading the Way

Now in its 100th iteration, the popular Chrome browser has indeed come a long way since its debut nearly 14 years ago.

With Firefox and Edge equally nearing their centenary updates, you can expect improved browser performance and stiff competition across the board.

And if you prefer other browsers other than these, we've also covered the best alternative browsers for surfing the web and getting stuff done online.