Greasemonkey , the oh-so-handy customization tool for Firefox, is now coming to Google’s Chrome browser, too.
The expanded extension, first revealed on the Google Operating System blog , is becoming available before Chrome’s official extension API has even hit the masses. In what’s sure not to be a coincidence, Greasemonkey’s creator — Aaron Boodman — happens to work at Google as a Gears engineer .
As of now, the Greasemonkey Chrome version functions only on the developer edition of Chrome. It also has to be launched by adding “–enable-greasemonkey” on to the end of a target. One wonders, though, whether the support will eventually become integrated into a future Chrome build, given Boodman’s Google connection.
The news may serve as a comfort to any Chrome users who are also frustrated with the recent iGoogle change . A Greasemonkey script is already floating around to let you remove the new left-of-screen sidebar implemented into the portal page. While developed for Firefox, the function will presumably now carry over into Chrome as well.


