Revert new tab page behavior in Google Chrome 29+
Please note: This solution no longer works as many of the features mentioned have been removed by the Chrome developers. It will be kept for posterity, but is no longer guaranteed to work as intended.
Update January 29, 2014: As of Google Chrome stable Version 32.0.1700.102 m this flag still appears to exist. chrome-internal://newtab does not appear to exist. chrome://apps still exists.
Update Feburary 21, 2014 As of Google Chrome stable Version 33.0.1750.117 m this flag appears to no longer exist. chrome://apps appears to still work. chrome://newtab directs users to the new newtab page.
To disable this feature, go to:
chrome://flags/
And hit Ctrl+F. Search for "Enable Instant Extended API". Click disabled in the dropdown below it, then click relaunch now. This should disable the new tab page. Change the flag to enabled if you'd like to re-enable it at any time.
Edit: Here's the flag:
chrome://flags/#enable-instant-extended-api
Thanks, Jim Bergman.
Other possible solutions
Please see either drzaus's answer or niutech's answer for possible solutions involving Google Chrome extensions and other dark magic. New Tab Reloaded (Extended) is currently the only extension that fully restores the old New Tab Page, though "Recently closed" and "Other devices" are only available in development versions of Chrome, which may be unstable.
Rob Cooper has posted a work around with some more details about how to get rid of the annoying search engine on the new tab page in Google Chrome. Please see his answer for more details.
Another alternative is to use the Replace New Tab Page extension and set the new url to chrome://apps (which is the url from the new bookmark icon).
I assume this lets you take advantage of the other parts of the flag "Enable Instant Extended API" rather than disable it.
DanteTheEgregore's answer doesn't work in Google Chrome 33+ because Google has removed that flag. However, you can revert the old New Tab Page by following my workaround:
- Install the New Tab Redirect extension
- Set the URL in options to: chrome-internal://newtab or chrome://apps