Google Chrome

Posted on 2 February, 2009

So after much thought, rethought, and rethought again, I finally decided to switch browsers. This is a major thing for me. I’ve been using Firefox ever since it was called Firebird. There was only a short period in which I jumped from Opera and Safari, but I soon returned to my beloved Firefox.

Switching browsers is no small task, though. It’s fairly difficult to get accustomed to a different browser unless it offers similar or easier to use features. One is used to going here or there to find something. The difference, then, between Firefox and Chrome are like, well, fire and chrome. Ok, fine, bad analogy.

I seriously miss the extensions that Firefox had – specifically StumbleUpon and Foxmarks. Those are the two (and only two) extensions I have for Firefox. I basically standardize my Firefox installs. Every computer I have has always had the same configuration. Going to Chrome really just got rid of my reliance on these extensions. One feature Chrome does need to implement, though, is bookmark syncing.

What drew me to Chrome, however, was the features it did have. The fact that each tab is an independent process. A failed plug-in in one tab won’t kill another. It won’t even kill the browser. The tab will simply give me a sad face and ask me to refresh if I want to try it again. I love that. I also love the ability to tear and add tabs to open windows.

Another feature of Chrome that I like is the ability to resize text-boxes. Firefox doesn’t have that implemented and that is where Chrome really shines. Interaction with websites feel oh-so more natural.

Rendering of sites isn’t perfect. The login page for System Anomaly has a serious issue in Chrome. The login box has an unsightly shadow and the corners are badly rendered. This seems to be the only render error on the entire site, though. I really haven’t seen any other errors other than that.

On the left is Google Chrome. On the right is Mozilla Firefox

Overlooking a minor error like that, Google Chrome is still a very rock-solid browser. The UI is very simple and very clean. It’s also very fast.

Like Firefox, it has a super-bar. You can type in URLs, do a search, or get a bookmark suggested when you start typing. You can also setup custom searches that’ll do a search by typing in a keyword before the search query. Very neat.

It’ll be a while before I get used to the new browser, but I hope to stick with this one as long as I have with Firefox. I hope that bookmark syncing is implemented soon. I’m having to manually sync my bookmarks. It’s kinda tedious, but oh-so rewarding.

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