Google Chrome is Shiny!

Google Chrome is the new (well, comparatively..) web browser by Google. Being a die hard Firefox fan, I decided to give it a try to see if it is all it's cracked up to be.

Google Chrome is a browser built around the Webkit system that Apple's Safari browser uses. It's fast. Very fast. NYTimes.com loaded in just under 8 seconds in a default session of Firefox, but took only 5.23 seconds on Chrome. These few precious seconds may not seem like much, but imagine the time saved total over a period of weeks?

Google Chrome achieves much of its glory by assigning web pages to their own processes. You can see the processes in the Windows Task Manager, or for more detail right click Chrome's application taskbar to select Task Manager, where Chrome conveniently shows both process status and each tab's network usage.

Another feature with pushing each webpage to its own process means that if a website stops responding, it only crashes that tab and not the entire process. Google Chrome even lets you refresh the tab to restore your browsing in that tab!

Google Chrome also includes download manager abilities. Downloading a file is a pretty process, with a nice download arrow appearing and a bottom toolbar shown. Unfortunately, you cannot do many actions to files in the download bar that appears apart from opening them. There is a link to load all downloads in a pane to clear them, but it's not a straightforward process.

Google Chrome also prevents you from adding spyware to your daily browsing habits. If a page has a recognized spyware object on it, Chrome notifies you and gives you an opportunity to stop loading the page, or continue understanding the risks.

One big turnback is that Google Chrome does not feature plugin support. Users of Firefox would be hard-pressed to regain functionality that its users relied on in the past.

All in all Google Chrome is a fast and easy to use entry level browser. It doesn't feature all of the fancy customization as Firefox, but is an easy to use browser for anyone looking to move away from the old Internet Explorer.