When Google Said No Extensions For Mac Yet, They Meant It

As you've no doubt heard by now, the beta versions of Chrome for Mac and Linux launched today (as we anticipated), as did Chrome Extensions (a day earlier than we anticipated). Also as anticipated, extensions are not currently supported in the beta build of Chrome for Mac (though they are for Windows and Linux). But here's something that's a little odd: Chrome Extensions have been working in the Mac builds of Chromium (the open-source browser that Chrome is built on) for weeks now, but Google has disabled the ability to install them from the Gallery page even if you're using Chromium for Mac.

If you visit the Extensions Gallery page from either Chrome for Mac or Chromium for Mac, you're greeted with a grayed-out "Install" button. Google is clearly just sniffing to see which browser you are using, and if it's anything on a Mac, they disable the button. But that doesn't make it any less annoying because if you could find the URL to the actual .crx file, you could install any of the extensions, and they would work. But alas, Mac users are left completely in the dark for now.