I've been a Firefox fan for years.
And so, when news broke that Google was to unveil their own browser, I approached the idea with hesitation. I was happy with Firefox, why should I venture back into the murky waters of Browser Purgatory?
But, being infinitely curious and always on the lookout for the next breakthrough gadget or software, I decided to give Chrome a go. And, I have to say, I'm impressed.
The first thing you note when using Chrome, is how simple it all looks. Not basic, by any means, but minimalist, in true Google style. Located at the top of the window is the now obligatory tab bar, but gone are the file, edit menu bars of Internet Exploder (ahem, excuse me, Explorer). Beneath this are the standard back, forward, refresh and home buttons, and next to these stands the impressively named Omnibar, from where you can launch your web experience by either typing a full web address or, if you want to perform a search, enter keywords and hit the enter key, to which Chrome will redirect you to the Google search results pages you are all undoubtedly familiar. More than just an over - hyped search field, the Omnibar also suggests web pages and searches as you type, saving your finger from extended keyboard- bashing. In all, I found this quite useful, but - enough to abandon my first love, Firefox? I needed a bit more convincing than that, thank you very much.
Well, Chrome managed to persuade me - not with showy looks like IE, or fancy names, but with what its made of. Because really, it's what's under the bonnet that make Chrome revolutionary in its Browser approach. Google built Chrome because it found other internet Browsers simply could not cope with the type of features Google wanted to bring to the web, and from the ground up, Google have spent their time ensuring that Chrome is tweaked to get the most out of the web. For starters, there's an internal task manager. While this sounds dull in itself, it's worth considering what this means for your internet experience. Opening up this task manager allows you to see what tabs or pages are using up the most resources, and prioritise or close them as necessary. In addition, this also means that Chrome has done away with the infinitely annoying issue of browser crashes. If one page succumbs to internet death, then Chrome ensures that all the other tabs do not go down with it, something that causes me endless headaches, expecially when forced to use Microsoft's own Explorer. Add to this task manager some nifty features, such as creating 'application shortcuts' for web apps such as Google mail and Google Docs, effectively turning these internet based services into desktop - based programs, and it starts to become clear that this is now ordinary run - of - the - mill effort to steal some of Microsoft or Mozilla's profit margins (yes, I know, Mozilla is not - for profit, but allow me some poetic licence, please!).
What astonishes me most, however, is its speed. I have a humble broadband connection, but Chrome forces my webpages to load at a breathtaking pace, much faster than I have ever seen with IE or Firefox. Navigating your favourites is easy too, and Google have also incorporated a 'speed dial' style service into Chrome, displaying your most viewed pages in thumbnail form whenever you open a new tab. Bookmarking is easy: simply clicking the star button by the omnibar saves the currently opened page into its archives.
Another interesting, albeit controversial feature, is Chrome's incognito mode. This allows a user to open up a separate window, in which no cookies or website addresses will be saved to your history. Whilst it is debatable what this could be used for other than, shall we say, dodgy browsing, its a unique feature (or at least will be until IE8 is released, with a similar feature) for those who do not want their traces to be, well, traced.
All in all, I've been impressed by Chrome over the last three weeks of use. While it may seem basic at first, once you have used it awhile you begin to see how complex it actually is. And Google have managed all this without overwhelming the user with techical jargon or more buttons than you could shake a tailor at. I'm now using Chrome as my default browser of choice. Don't get me wrong, I love Firefox, and it will be many years to come until Google manage to steal the ground made by Mozilla. But there is a shakeup coming, you can be sure of that. Google have made the first step into a brave new world. Microsoft and Mozilla had better be fast to pick up their own pace.
Chrome: simple. yet effective.
