Google is smart and oh-so-sly. The company released Chrome, its I'm-gonna-be-in-beta-for-years browser and everyone's writing about it. (I saw eight articles on PC World alone yesterday.) For example, one article said Chrome grabbed a bunch of users in short order (See Chrome Grabs 1 Percent of Market in Under 24 Hours).
I don't know whether to doubt that--or just wonder about it. That's because according to PC World.com's tracking service, 36 percent of all visitors to the site use Firefox, 31 percent use IE 7, 17 percent use IE 6, and the rest are on Safari, Opera, AOL, and Mozilla. Chrome wasn't on the list yet.
I did an informal poll on a private list I moderate and 60 percent of the responders tried Chrome, but went back to their original browser.
Chrome, Google's Wonder Browser
Sure, I know that you've read reviews of Chrome already, and many of you have tried it. If you haven't, or want to compare notes, here are my observations.
The fact that each tab is really a window running a separate process is innovative, smart, and spectacular. It means that each tab is independent, so if one tab is slow loading, or has a scripting problem and jams, there's no adverse impact on the others. Think multithreading. That's important and I'll come back to it in another blog.
Speed--fast-loading pages--is Chrome's best achievement (aside from scaring the pants off of Microsoft, of course). The browser's underlying architecture, and the tab independence, lets most Web sites fly open faster than I've seen since I moved to broadband from dial-up.
Hold the Chrome
The show stopper -- there's more than one, actually -- is that Chrome is brand new and still in development. That means it's missing those cool things built into your favorite browser, the tools you're used to having at your disposal.
I'm a huge fan of Maxthon, a freebie that uses IE's engine, and Chrome doesn't even come close to having Maxthon's features. For instance, Maxthon recognizes mouse gestures that let me zip among tabs or close tabs with a quick flick of the mouse; Chrome won't let me assign a sticky to a tab, send a tab to the desktop, or create groups of Web sites. Even a simple task like dragging and dropping a link onto an existing browser window to open a new tab isn't available in Chrome.
Some of my Firefox buddies have also tried and released Chrome because it's missing features they rely on. For example, Steve W. complained that he can't use tons of task-specific Firefox Plugins such as Shutterfly Uploader, Photosynth, or Garmin Communicator. He'd also miss Web of Trust (WOT) and IE Tab, to name two other add-ins.
But some folks aren't just whining, they're doing something about it. Check out Lifehacker's Andrea Maria Cecil neat roundup of tricks to Enable Chrome's Best Features in Firefox.
Quick aside: If you're a Firefox user, check out our just-released 15 Must-Have Firefox Add-Ons.
Old Favorites Left Out in the Cold
My biggest gripe, though, and the one that stops me cold, is that Chrome ignores my two of my beloved browsing tools: RoboForm and Ad Muncher.
RoboForm sits in my browser storing passwords and logging me into sites automatically. (Read my take on RoboForm in 25 Products We Can't Live Without.) The topper is that while Chrome blocks pop-ups, it doesn't touch banner, Flash, or other irritating ads--and Chrome won't let Ad Muncher do its extraordinary job of ad blocking. Read more about Ad Muncher in 15 Downloads That Will Block Annoying Ads and Pop-Ups.
One more gripe: I can't add links to external tools onto Chrome's toolbar, a trick that even older versions of Maxthon offered. And on a minor note, Chrome wasn't able to import more than about 10 percent of my IE favorites. A buddy had a similar complaint about his Firefox bookmarks.
Catch Up With Chrome
If you just tuned in and want to read lots about Chrome, I've compiled the best on PC World.com:
I have lots more to say about Google's browser--things that may surprise you. Stay tuned.
I have never used anything but IE, but i decided to try Chrome and I Loved it, but the beta sadly lacked things I use very often. I'll come back to Chrome when it "grows up".
The person writing this article .. gotta be stupid... all the features he's speaking of .. are features that will come out later.. .CHROME IS IN BETA people... it's open source... developers will be writing plug ins for CHrome .. they just found out about Chrome this week.. .did you expect them to come out with the add-ons .. the same day it came out.. .The person writing this article .. gotta be stupid... all the features he's speaking of .. are features that will come out later.. .CHROME IS IN BETA people... it's open source... developers will be writing plug ins for CHrome .. they just found out about Chrome this week.. .did you expect them to come out with the add-ons .. the same day it came out.. .
What really bugs me is that it is well-known how Google already knows all someone's browsing habits via the little hidden codes on your hard drive, but yet people still flock to a browser that will only give away MORE of your private data.
The idea of virtual desktops with remote servers hosting all my apps is quite scary. As a former victim of a hacker, I'd rather keep control over my apps and data myself.
I use Firefox - only using IE7 on rare occasion. I love Google, but I will NOT install Chrome now or in the future.
I use Firefox and IE7, but Chrome doesn't knock me out. Sorry, it's kinda boring, at this stage anyway...
Ad Muncher works in Chrome.
Ad Muncher works in Chrome
Chrome...yeah google will have to keep
polishing this one, but with WM Ware and
even, dare i say, (Hyper-V) the OS landscape is
changing rapidly, but i digress. So i'll byte...
Chrome is Windows killer, an OS killer, but wait that
dumb node (my PC? your PC? Never sez Jinx101 ) that
connects to the smart cloud, connects somewhere to
a server, albeit google's, so where did we get
rid of OS? You didn't you just have google on roids:)
kellydp