Google Chrome 16 lands with multi-user features

Sign-in to access your bookmarks, apps and more

Google has unleashed the latest version of its Chrome web browser, which offers multiple user accounts.
Chrome version 16 allows you to sign-in to a number of different accounts, with each hosting its own set of bookmarks, history, add-ons and web-apps.
Switching between the accounts is easy thanks to an in-browser tab, which could prove ideal for households with a single computer.

Not a 'private browsing' tool

However, the feature is not yet designed to safeguard your personal data as once you're signed into your account it's easy for other users to access it by simply switching tabs.
So, unless you trust your family explicitly, it's probably not a good idea to think of this as a private browsing feature. It really isn't.
Google says on its Chrome Blog: "Keep in mind that adding new users to Chrome isn't intended to secure your data against other people using your computer, since it just takes a few clicks to switch between users.
"We're providing this functionality as a quick and simple user interface convenience for people who are already sharing Chrome on the same computer today.
"To truly protect your data from being seen by others, please use the built-in user accounts on your operating system of choice."
Of course, the other advantage of signing into your Chrome profile is that your own apps and add-ons can be accessed from whatever computer you happen to be using.