Google Chrome – my POV

Ranted by TheChrisD on Tuesday the 2nd of September, 2008 at 10:30:26pm UTC

As 90% of you should know, the Google Chrome beta launched within the past 10 hours or so. If you don’t know what it is, it’s Google’s entry in the browser wars. Now I use a browser based on functionality, so here’s how Chrome is working out for me.

Good Things

  1. Imported EVERYTHING from Firefox. Bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history. Everything. No need for a long and tedious process to move all my data from one browser to another :)
  2. Uses the computer’s default proxy settings! This may not seem like a big deal, but in DCU I have to set my computer to use the proxy. Although I had the SwitchProxy extension installed in Firefox, it was still tedious to have to switch it separately to the rest of the entire computer.

Failures

  1. No choice of installation location, no prompts or anything. Once I clicked, it installed itself. Not the most secure method…
  2. Failed to import my settings from Firefox while I was still running it earlier with many tabs open. Had to close Firefox and all tabs before Chrome could import. Not the best way to start…
  3. My site’s hit logs logged myself visiting my site using Chrome. The log stated the browser as “Safari”. Doesn’t help when I want to be able to differentiate between the two!
    OK, I’ve fixed that actually – added another line to the browser.dat file to handle Chrome and it works fine now.
  4. Folders in the bookmarks toolbar need to be clicked on to open, opening one and then hovering to another won’t make that one open. Sub-folders take a bit longer to open up.
  5. Breaks the blog page and any sub-pages. Must be another one of those “1-pixel” things…
    Spent about 15 minutes trying to fix it, and eventually had to give up and set the overflow-y to hidden to get them to play nice…
  6. Ugly colour scheme, for the moment…

Neutral Things

  1. I’m quite used to having a status bar at the bottom to see the destinations of links before I open them. I know Chrome has a little bar that pops up to show you the link, but I prefer the robustness of a full status bar.

Overall

It looks like it could work well. If it’s extendability improves as the Beta progresses, then I’m sure it has contention of taking over from Firefox as my default browser. But it still has a long way to go!

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Ranting back at me - at least 9 instances!

  1. David Gerard ranted:
    Tuesday the 2nd of September, 2008 at 10:48:21pm UTC

    “We are so, so happy with Google Chrome,” mumbled Mozilla CEO John Lilly through gritted teeth. “That most of our income is from Google has no bearing on me making this statement.” – http://notnews.today.com/?p=57

    Rant in reply to David Gerard's load of drivel!
  2. CyRevenant ranted:
    Tuesday the 2nd of September, 2008 at 10:48:30pm UTC

    Last four hours. :) Came only after 7 I believe.

    I quite like it, I haven’t had any major difficulties, the only problem I notice is the URL not wrapping sometimes, so they spill onto adjacent columns. Other than that, it’s fast and lightweight. It’ll be interesting to see if their much touted multi-threadedness and sandboxing makes a real difference.

    Also, I’m using it on Vista and it looks sleeeeek. Haven’t seen the XP look yet.

    Rant in reply to CyRevenant's load of drivel!
  3. TheChrisD ranted:
    Tuesday the 2nd of September, 2008 at 10:57:14pm UTC

    @CyRevenant: Well yes, I will agree that it does have more of a Vista look than XP – but then again so does all the Windows Live stuff :P

    I’d just like it to be green to go with all the Windows Live stuff!

    Rant in reply to TheChrisD's load of drivel!
  4. John ranted:
    Tuesday the 2nd of September, 2008 at 11:53:00pm UTC

    Hm, I actually like the color scheme. Nice and simple. Although I want a darker theme, the default one is not all that bad.

    Rant in reply to John's load of drivel!
  5. B'dum ranted:
    Wednesday the 3rd of September, 2008 at 1:41:27am UTC

    You’ve no right to attack google for any flaws in chrome.
    All of your income comes from them :D

    Rant in reply to B'dum's load of drivel!
  6. Wednesday the 3rd of September, 2008 at 1:46:17am UTC

    I haven’t had a chance to download it yet. Maybe later.

    Rant in reply to AdjustantReflex's load of drivel!
  7. Wednesday the 3rd of September, 2008 at 8:16:48am UTC
  8. TheChrisD ranted:
    Wednesday the 3rd of September, 2008 at 8:32:45am UTC

    @John: The theme isn’t bad at all. It’s just the blue looks out of place, given I’ve changed all my Windows Live programs to be green instead of blue.

    @B’dum: Actually, they haven’t made me anything since August, so I do have a right to diss them slightly :) And until I reach $100 and they actually pay me, technically I haven’t earned anything…

    @AdjustantReflex: Lazy lump!

    Rant in reply to TheChrisD's load of drivel!
  9. Wednesday the 3rd of September, 2008 at 7:33:38pm UTC
    Rant in reply to AdjustantReflex's load of drivel!

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