Neither enabled by default nor particularly stable, the long-sought-after browser feature to synchronize extensions across multiple computers arrived Thursday in the developer's builds of Google Chrome.

Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Google Chrome dev 6.0.437.1 for Windows and Linux, and version 6.0.437.2 for Mac, include a rudimentary version of extension sync that users need to manually activate, a collection of the usual bug fixes and performance tweaks, and also combines the stop and reload buttons into one to streamline the omnibox and free up space for extension icons.

To enable the extension sync, users must go to a Chrome shortcut's properties and, at the end of the Target field, add the following command line switch: "--enable-sync-extensions" without the quotes. For novice command line switch users, note that a space is needed between the end of the "chrome.exe" and the sync extension switch.

Mac users will have to enable the feature through Terminal.

For now, syncing enthusiasts should not add the command line hack because of crashes directly related to the feature. At the time of writing, Google had stopped auto-updating dev channel users to investigate crashes related to the Extension sync. Downloading a new developer's version installer won't update the browser, either.

The full changelog can be read here.

Vampires are so damn serious. That's probably why there are so few iPhone games about them. Plus, they're usually loners. When you're in the mood for blasting, clubbing, eviscerating, and decapitating with soccer balls, you need hordes.

You need zombies.

If you've checked the App Store recently, you might think we're experiencing a zombie invasion. Look no further than these five new games, all of them are perfect for players who like nothing better than mowing down hordes of the undead.

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies II  I have a curious desire to add "Go to the Zoo" to that crazy mouthful of a name. The sequel to the popular first installment ups the first-person shooter carnage with new weapons, characters, and maps. Even so, it's hard to believe Activision charges $9.99 for this, especially with the original still selling at the same price. (Note: Owners of the first game can buy the sequel in-app at a discounted price.)

Pro Zombie Soccer  A little bit Plants Vs. Zombies, a little bit World Cup Soccer, and  a whole lot of fun. I mean, what other game lets you kill zombies by kicking soccer balls at them? (Oooh! Oooh! Can we get Pro Zombie Hockey next?) Price: 99 cents.

Like a graphic novel come to life (make that death), ZombieKiller Ultimate is all about mowing down waves of zombies.

(Credit: TeamBlackCat)

ZombieKiller Ultimate  With visuals that ooze graphic-novel style, ZombieKiller Ultimate should appeal to anyone who likes guns, gore, and wave after wave of really creepy-looking zombies. The game does get repetitive, especially with only three (upgradeable) weapons and zero movement on your part. But, hey, it's only 99 cents.

Zombie Infection  Clearly inspired by Resident Evil, Zombie Infection plays it serious with 12 levels of horrific third-person action. Seriously, I have to question the App Store's "12+" rating for this one, which has a pretty over-the-top level of blood and gore. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Price: $4.99.

Zombie Wonderland  Cute, whimsical, and crazy-addictive, Zombie Wonderland borrows a bit from Tower Defense as you defend various Niceville buildings against the zombie hordes. You have to juggle three tasks: blasting the invaders, boarding up windows, and cleaning up the mess. Well worth 99 cents.

Want even more undead action? Be sure to check out my original roundup of iPhone zombie games.

In the meantime, hit the comments and name your favorites. Better yet, tell me what kind of zombie mash-up you'd like to see on your iPhone or iPod. My vote: Angry Birds vs. Zombies. (Enough with the pigs already!)

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Common Windows security wisdom says it's a bad idea to run multiple antivirus apps simultaneously. However, that's not always the case, and Immunet's latest update intends to bolster your existing protection with help from the cloud and the crowd. Available exclusively Thursday on CNET Download.com, Immunet 2.0 introduces new scanning tools, detection engines, and support in a bid to convince users that the program is the spackle they need to plug the holes in their security wall.

Similar to PC Tools' ThreatFire, which didn't originally address virus-related threats but does now, Immunet seeks to present a lightweight method to enhance already-installed protection. Immunet CEO Oliver Friedrichs and the company's vice president of engineering, Alfred Huger, pointed to the effectiveness of properly leveraged, community-based protection while at a cafe outside this year's RSA Conference in March. "There's a tremendous amount of energy spent on protecting users from threats they'll never encounter," Huger said.

On features alone, there's no doubt that Immunet 2.0 is a better product than its predecessor. The free version offers a new cloud-based detection engine called ETHOS, on-demand scanning, in-product updates, a visual representation of the Immunet communty, a silent gaming mode, and a stream from the Immunet security blog. Huger explained ETHOS as, "a broadbased cache engine, basically a heuristics engine."

Generally, these features all worked fairly well. The community features let you invite friends to use Immunet, which serves Immunet's purposes by getting more users, and serve the network's purposes since threat detections are immediately passed up into the cloud and distributed. In theory, this would prevent errors of the kind that McAfee suffered in April, since a false positive on one computer would conflict with the community's otherwise safe rating. The community feature also displays in a somewhat-interactive graphic how your personal community contributes to the larger Immunet collective.

Friedrichs stressed that Immunet's community-based cloud detection system, Collective Immunity, is different from several of its competitor's systems. "It's not defaulting out to DNS like Artemis," he said, referring to McAfee's network.

There's also an unusual amount of attention paid to user-support issues for a free program, with free 24/7 telephone support. The service includes installation problems, assistance with potential virus issues, and sluggish computer performance that may not be virus-related. E-mail support has been dropped from this version in favor of online forums.

The installation of Immunet 2.0 asks for registration, which you can skip to avoid sending your data up to the cloud. It does opt you in to the Ask toolbar and defaut search engine switch, so users who don't want them should go through the install process carefully.

The interface is a blue wall behind three columns that provide access to Community, Computer, and Product settings. On the far left side of the interface, Immunet quietly informs you of your other installed antivirus program, while on the far right there are two bars keeping track of CPU and memory usage. Annoyingly, much of the interface uses text that comes in varying shades of blue, which can make it harder to read than it should be. I also found that switching screens within Immunet and tooltips were slow to respond to clicks and mouse-overs.

The History window, under the Computer column, provides a reasonably in-depth accounting of what Immunet's been up to. This includes an option to view by all file events, which essentially acts as an Internet traffic log. I'm a fan of exposing as much data as possible about security behavior to users, but this could be improved by allowed users to access the folder location where the activity took place.

The new scanning tools come in the three standard flavors: the quick Flash scan, Full, and Custom. The Flash scan, which checks out only processes and the Registry, took just over one minute to finish, while the full takes much longer because it checks your entire computer. Immunet doesn't lock you into a running scan, so you can hide it and use other parts of the program. However, Immunet restricts rootkit scans to its paid upgrade, sacrificing some of your security.

During a day of anecdotal testing, I noticed no unusual system slow-downs while running Immunet concurrently with Avast. Third-party security performance benchmarks are not yet available.

At this point, there's no one feature in Immunet that's impressive enough to make it stand out against the competitive security field. What it does offer though is an extra dose of peace of mind for those users who feel, for whatever reason, that their current security just isn't enough.