Google takes on Firefox and Windows with Google Chrome.

[ADM]

Seems like Google will be launching a new open source browser called Chrome to take on Firefox and especially Windows.

http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/google_chrome1.png

Looks like they're trying to take the windows experience to the web and this is their platform they will be building on.

Here's a screen of it:

http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/chrome1.jpg

It's using Gears which allows for offline access as well.

Thoughts?

More info:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/01/meet-chrome-googles-windows-killer/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/01/first-public-screen-captures-of-google-chrome/

[Steve]

I have to say I'm interested... :)

[ADM]

Here's a blog entry from Google about it:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html

and their web comic about Chrome:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8UsqHohwwVYC&printsec=frontcover#PPP1,M1

[Kalki]

Thanks for those extra links. Seems this was prematurely announced.

I definitely want to try this out. Not sure how a browser competes against an OS but I'm ready to be schooled. :cool:

[Daveman]

Sounds like it's good for people who browse with lots of tabs. Or that's the impression I'm getting. Could be really neat. All I ask for is an interface similar to Firefox and which isn't cluttered with huge borders or anything.

[ADM]

The coolest thing in my opinion is a task manager to find out which tabs/sites are using the most memory and also which elements within that site are to blame. Also if a site crashes the browser only the tab will close not the whole browser.

I also want a simple interface but I don't want it to come bundled with all their other apps like google desktop and all that sort of stuff. Make it less about Google and more about the application and I'll be happy. Sure I use a lot of googles products but I don't want bloat.

[shiranui]

:woot:
Got three different browsers installed already, so why not a forth.

Heard a lot about Webkit but was never prepared to install Safari just to see if it was as good as people said.

[Yatta]

Gah, not another one! We just need ONE browser which would simply be called Browser, thus eliminating various display issues present due to the diversified code interpretation present across browsers today. :( :( :(

Also, I'm sticking to Firefox, unless Google magically finds a way to make Firefox plugins work with Chrome. Even then, I don't know if I'd be comfortable making the switch. You go to far, Google.

[Karthik]

Gah, not another one! We just need ONE browser which would simply be called Browser, thus eliminating various display issues present due to the diversified code interpretation present across browsers today. :( :( :(

Also, I'm sticking to Firefox, unless Google magically finds a way to make Firefox plugins work with Chrome. Even then, I don't know if I'd be comfortable making the switch. You go to far, Google.
No, completely disagree with that. We need more browsers BUT with unified standards. If we had only one browser we'd be seeing the same thing for the next 10 years.

[Xonic]

I would at least try it out before I begin throwing piss at it.

[ADM]

Gah, not another one! We just need ONE browser which would simply be called Browser, thus eliminating various display issues present due to the diversified code interpretation present across browsers today. :( :( :(

Also, I'm sticking to Firefox, unless Google magically finds a way to make Firefox plugins work with Chrome. Even then, I don't know if I'd be comfortable making the switch. You go to far, Google.

Did you read the comic they launched? Chrome is based off of webkit so display issues are irrelevant if you code by standards. Also the improvements that chrome bring would only benefit everyone as it means other browsers will continue getting better to stay in the lead.

Plus as a developer of web apps chrome looks great as it only means a more stable, secure and fast environment for everyone.

[ZaphodB]

Sounds interesting, will be nice to try out.

[The Stinger]

I hope they learn to implement the w3c recommendations better then on all of their sites.

[Crosma]

webkitYou know it's WebKit, right (yes, I know you said)? Who's to say that it's not just Safari/Konqueror with a new skin, that just happens to be being released by Google and will dilute the market further while offering little new of value? Unless Google are going to contribute significantly to WebKit (which, as yet, they have not), then why should anyone care?

For us web developers it's just yet another browser to test in. Yawn.

[ADM]

You know it's WebKit, right (yes, I know you said)? Who's to say that it's not just Safari/Konqueror with a new skin, that just happens to be being released by Google and will dilute the market further while offering little new of value? Unless Google are going to contribute significantly to WebKit (which, as yet, they have not), then why should anyone care?

For us web developers it's just yet another browser to test in. Yawn.


Read the web comic.. I assure you you'll think differently after reading the whole thing. Even if you arn't going to use the browser it really helps push new ideas to Mozilla as well.

Trust me I thought exactly the same as you when I first heard about this but after reading that comic and their ideas I'm really excited. Will I use Chrome? I have no idea. I'll definitely try it out though.

Why am I excited if I might not be using it? Because it's going to make things better for us web developers.

Ever since browsers have been more standardised I haven't had many display problems when designing. Plus it's WebKit so if a site works in Safari then it'll work in Chrome.

[Crosma]

Ever since browsers have been more standardised I haven't had many display problems when designing. Plus it's WebKit so if a site works in Safari then it'll work in Chrome.After Google Toolbar, their crappified HTML/CSS (that appears throughout Google's sites), etc. I'm not sure how much they really deserve to be trusted when it comes to stuff like this.

Plus their new stuff all sounds very resource intensive. I'm only semi-convinced. We'll have to wait and see.

[hiob]

This sounds very interesting, although I don't want this to become a success, Google is too powerful and influential already. /paranoia

But they have some very nice ideas, I'll give them that.

[IwantMORE]

Chrome is based off of webkit so display issues are irrelevant if you code by standards.

Unless you code by standards and then have to put in all the work arounds for IE6 & IE7.

Hopefully one day there will be 100% of users on standards compliant browsers, but unil then poeple who claim everything will be fine if you stick to standards don't know what they are talking about.

Hopefully this will get a few more people onto a compliant browser but at the end of the day if you website is compliant and don't work on a perticual browser you will probabbly have to break standards to make it work.

[Wamplet]

this is only getting scarier. :(

[Llama Gibbz]

Nothing wrong with trying something different.

Buts its bad enough you have to worry about rogue processes in windows.
Now a browser running a bunch of processes in it self yet.

It just looks like a plethora of potential exploits to me.

[avatar_58]

I don't really like the look of it myself, is that a custom theme or will it match my O/S? Theres nothing I hate more than custom window themes.

I'll try it out but I'm not really sure what it will do to make me switch. I'm not a heavy plugin user on firefox, so if it's lightweight and displays my pages properly I guess it could win me over.

[Mr.Fibbles]

I think Google and Mozilla should team up and kill IE. . .but that is just me.

Seriously, they already work together well with Firefox (Firefox start page anyone?) It isn't like they are so different that they can't combine their efforts in a browser to end all browsers. Like Yatta said (heaven forbid I ever agree with Yatta) there isn't a whole lot of need for more web browsers. I use one browser and have other ones for testing (and if one page is acting up in Firefox). Standards should be standard and browsers should either fit those standards or die.

[Hudson]

I'll be checking it out, whether it makes me change from Firefox remains to be seen.. that's a tall order to fill.

[Jiminator]

its headed where a browser will become an operating system. really just a few small steps

[ZuljinRaynor]

I'll give it a shot. Seriously doubt it will replace IE7 as my main browser but maybe it can take Opera's place as my secondary.

[avatar_58]

its headed where a browser will become an operating system. really just a few small steps

Except the irony is that most custom web-apps probably won't work with it, since many need ActiveX to work.

[The Stinger]

I think Google and Mozilla should team up and kill IE. . .but that is just me.

Seriously, they already work together well with Firefox (Firefox start page anyone?) It isn't like they are so different that they can't combine their efforts in a browser to end all browsers. Like Yatta said (heaven forbid I ever agree with Yatta) there isn't a whole lot of need for more web browsers. I use one browser and have other ones for testing (and if one page is acting up in Firefox). Standards should be standard and browsers should either fit those standards or die.

Google and Mozilla teaming up would be great, it's not like we need an other big browser:
http://www.e-janco.com/browser.php
1 - Microsoft’s IE - 58.50%

2 - Firefox - 18.94%

3 - Netscape - 11.63%

4 - Google Desktop - 4.01%

5 - Mozilla - 3.05%

[Vroomfondel]

I think Google and Mozilla should team up and kill IE. . .but that is just me.

Since both browsers are open source, I can see no reason why they won't be using each other's ideas anyway. I think this is a very good thing. Can't wait to try it out.

[Jiminator]

Except the irony is that most custom web-apps probably won't work with it, since many need ActiveX to work.
no great loss, microsofts attempt at dominaing the internet - FAIL!!!
nothing but security holes coming from various activex exploits.

[ADM]

Unless you code by standards and then have to put in all the work arounds for IE6 & IE7.

Hopefully one day there will be 100% of users on standards compliant browsers, but unil then poeple who claim everything will be fine if you stick to standards don't know what they are talking about

I never said anything about IE6 or IE7.. I'm talking purely about webkit which IS based off standards.

Everything will be fine in majority of Gecko and Webkit based browsers if you stick to standards.. THEN you will have to do code hacks or use browser sniffers to get it working in IE6 and/or IE7.

I do this stuff for a living.. I think I know what I'm talking about.

[avatar_58]

no great loss, microsofts attempt at dominaing the internet - FAIL!!!
nothing but security holes coming from various activex exploits.

That attitude doesn't help companies who've been using this stuff for years, now does it? I'm not talking about online apps, I'm talking about browser based apps.

Google's browser is for recreational use. It goes up against IE (home use) and Firefox. However it's not going to be used in business, and thus IE's stranglehold won't be broken.

If I had a say I'd also suggest companies lay off activex. Whats the point? It's just broken and very much a pain in the ass.

[Jiminator]

the technical world is merciless. javascript and java have become the standards and for the most part are compatible with every platform, and now there are embedded compilers to boost the speed of javascript. activex on the other hand has a hugely tarnished image. I would rather skip any website using an activex payload rather than risk being burned, as has happened many times before. any company still using activex is limiting their ability to do business.

[avatar_58]

It's up guys. Anyone tried it? I'd rather not at work.

[Vroomfondel]

Installing now

Edit: My first impression is :D It's going to take a bit of getting used to, but it's looking really good. It imports bookmarks and passwords and so on from firefox without any hassles

[avatar_58]

Flash, Java, sound? Do all of these work?

[boglito]

So far it seems to work ok. The look is custom and a little on the plain side (think "linux") which reminds me, is this windows only?

I tested some flash and it worked ok with sound and all. I don't have all that many fancy dancy things I use the browser for but for my simple use it seems adequate. Ofcourse it is still far inferior to Opera, but it's a good start.

[Vroomfondel]

Flash works 100%(with sound). Gmail is :censored: fast. It's amazing. You click on a mail and it's open!

[Jiminator]

interface is a little bland, ugly, but it is very minimalist, good to maximize viewing area. Nice website thumbnail views. I think it handles layers in a more ie compatible format than firefox. it looks good so far, and yeah, I think they are going to crush microsoft.

[avatar_58]

Well what I meant was playing in-browser. For instance you basically need quicktime to do it with firefox. I would love it if Chrome 'just worked' without such plugins.

[ZuljinRaynor]

The interface is... wow... worse than IE7 on first observance IMO.

[Vroomfondel]

The interface is... wow... worse than IE7 on first observance IMO.

There is an interface? I didn't even notice :p

[Zero]

Well what I meant was playing in-browser. For instance you basically need quicktime to do it with firefox. I would love it if Chrome 'just worked' without such plugins.

That would never happen, it's not feasible to do, think of the many formats it would have to magically know how to open without the use of any codecs, new formats and versions come and go all the time, you'd need one hell of a dedicated team to do this and then even if you have such resources, there are always patent issues, I am sure Apple, Real Networks, Microsoft and Adobe would sue or make Google pay royalties out the wazoo!

Microsoft's IE can do this because it was/is fused to the core of Windows it can just call a system function to do it.

[KaiserSoze]

Not impressed. I'll stick with Firefox.

[ZaphodB]

Not quite liking the color/layout(bookmarks over on the left????) but I will say the page loading seems much faster than FF (I only use IE7 for windows update).

[Usurper]

I'm glad there's a Windows-based WebKit browser that doesn't suck now. If nothing else, Google's provided me a way to test for Linux/Mac compatibility without using a bad port of Safari.

Needs middle-click scroll, full page zoom, and mouse gestures to make it usable on a daily basis, but it's still v.0.2 beta or somesuch.

[Daedolon]

If it's any better than Firefox, I'll install it as my secondary browser.

[RedSplat]

Nevermind...mistake post

[avatar_58]

Huh, it's very lightweight. It does copy most of Aero on Vista (transparent bar, proper UI icons) so it's not as bad as the screenshots made it seem. Fast too.

[IwantMORE]

No Mac version boo hisss.

[Daveman]

I'm using it now. Loading is extraordinarily fast. I'm going to use it for a couple days and see if I can get used to it. So far, though, it looks to be doing a really great job.

[d3ad connection]

Very nice. Loads fast, pages look ok, and I like the small interface. I don't know if it will replace Firefox for me, but I'm keeping an eye on this.

[avatar_58]

Read this thread -

http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=17826898#itemanchor_17826898

Zero|DPX works at google and is answering what questions he can. They even mentioned a few things I was not aware of and am concered about.

For instance it installs to a nonstandard location "C:\Users\MyUserName\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Ap plication\chrome.exe ". The reason given was that it's a per-user installer (bad news for multi-user pcs) and that people are too dumb to click by an installer. Sorry Google, follow standards please.

[peoplessi]

Good effort, nothing spectacular. Working, decent, fast, basic browser. I could use it instead of Opera if it had some sort of way to block advertisements.

[NutWrench]

It's mildly interesting. I'll keep an eye on it.

[Mr.Fibbles]

475kb?!?!?! Are you serious!?!

Wait. . .that is the downloader. . .

Anyway. . .
Why do they have to do that:
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/7038/chromebitchci7.jpg

Will be testing eventually, I have 4 tabs open and I am working my way down the line.


Addendum:
1) I realize that that picture is misleading. Sorry for that.
2) It seems that the boards here load slower on Chrome than they did on Firefox.
3) It will take a while to get used to the interface. There are no menus at all. Everything is in that corner and I couldn't find anything (like to import my stuff) until I found the tutorial thingy in the "home" page.

4) No quick scroll?! WTF? How am I supposed to quickly get to a part of a page? That wheel can only handle so much spinning man, that is why I like the middle click than move the mouse in the direction I want to scroll.

[Yatta]

About quickscroll--that's one of the things I noticed immediately at first. :(

[Daveman]

The quickscroll is indeed missed. And it's weird that it loads slowly for you, Mr. Fibbles, it loads much, much quicker for me than Firefox 3 did.

[Crosma]

So far it seems to work ok. The look is custom and a little on the plain side (think "linux") which reminds me, is this windows only?How can something look like a kernel? Erm... (Yikes, I hope people don't assume I'm using some Gnome abomination just because I'm using Linux. Damn Ubuntu's popularity.)

The Linux and MacOSX versions are being released when they stop calling it a "beta", apparently. Which means never. This is Google.

Back on Windows, Google Chrome is silky smooth. Their multi-process WebKit technique really pays off. Intensive Javascript doesn't appear to affect the performance of anything else at all whatsoever, and plug-ins (like Flash) are more responsive. Javascript performance is clearly a lot stronger than its rivals too.

All pretty good so far. The theme is ugly as hell though. And I haven't heard anything about extensions yet, which are a requirement for me these days.

[Mr.Fibbles]

It seems to be running faster now. Earlier it was lagging a bit when loading the main vbulletin page (complete list of forums).

Either way, I don't like the lack of bookmarks. I like my bookmarks super organized (I have folders for folders for 2 pages related to each other. . .so OCD) and this seems to drop that in favor of the location bar that "does everything". The problem is that it doesn't do well with some of my bookmarks from Firefox (my personal site doesn't seem to come up at all no matter what combination I type).

OK, I found the "bookmarks bar" thing. . .which is lacking in utility really. I don't know, but this doesn't seem to fit my habits and therefore I don't see myself using it.

[Mountain Man]

Gah, not another one! We just need ONE browser which would simply be called Browser, thus eliminating various display issues present due to the diversified code interpretation present across browsers today. :( :( :(
Hey, man, Microsoft tried to make your dream a reality. ;)

Also, I'm sticking to Firefox, unless Google magically finds a way to make Firefox plugins work with Chrome.
Same here. The thing I love about Firefox is being able to customize it to my liking. Also the fact that it's cross platform so I can use the same browser whether I'm on Linux, Windows, or Mac (I use all three between work and home).

Still, I'll give Chrome a look out of curiosity if nothing else.

Edit: O.K., so now I'm using Chrome. What's up with it not wanting to import my Firefox bookmarks? I only have the option to import from Internet Explorer (which I only used once... to download Firefox. :D). I'd also forgotten how annoying the internet is without an ad blocker in place.

[IwantMORE]

Nice, but I need my plugins.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10030888-92.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Very fast though...

[IwantMORE]

Been playing with it a bit and very impressed.

It's fast, some nice touches like the status bar that moves out of the way when you mouse over and the new tab page.

So since MS has started IE 8, FF3 raised the bar, Chrome raised it a bit more and IE 8 beta seems a slow resource hog compared to the competition. MS have their work cut out...

[The Stinger]

Google is going to have the best advertisement for their browser though, they just stick a link to it on their frontpage.

[ZaphodB]

Ok, ran into a prob with "chrome"(yeah I know it's still beta). The "google updater" that resides in your task manager when you run chrome has a prob of NOT ending when you close chrome, and can make programs become VERY laggy on your PC (total commander, notepad, and ACDSee I had problems with until I stopped the google updater manually in my task manager). So be careful guys.

[Mountain Man]

Been playing with it a bit and very impressed.

It's fast, some nice touches like the status bar that moves out of the way when you mouse over and the new tab page.
Yes, I do like the interface. The "single box" is a great idea, though I still like my separate Firefox search box since I have about half-a-dozen search engines only a click away (like IMDB, Dictionary.com, eBay, etc.). I also like the status bar only appearing when you're loading a page or hovering over a link. However, it won't be long before the other browsers start incorporating similar features, so those advantages will be short lived.

-----

Google is going to have the best advertisement for their browser though, they just stick a link to it on their frontpage.
Maybe. Google has always been pretty good about stuff like that. I was impressed that the options for the default search engine in Chrome included Yahoo, MSN, and others. But even with a link on the Google main page, that may not be enough to overcome the "I'll stick with what I know" mentality of the average Joe computer user (the primary reason Internet Explorer is still top dog).

[Mr.Fibbles]

er: Zaphod and the never ending Google troll, er update: I'm not sure that is a bug. . .
/remove tinfoil hat

[ZaphodB]

er: Zaphod and the never ending Google troll, er update: I'm not sure that is a bug. . .
/remove tinfoil hat

If it's not a bug, then I doubt I'll be using chrome.

EDIT: Renamed the TWO GoogleUpdate.exe files to GU.exe (they don't run now, chrome still works, my problem solved)
It just annoys me when a prog leaves something running on your machine when you're not using that prog.

[Mr.Fibbles]

Slashdot with the scoop (http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/03/0247205)

Apparently, Chrome is a bit on the fail side of things.

[Mountain Man]

If it's not a bug, then I doubt I'll be using chrome.

EDIT: Renamed the TWO GoogleUpdate.exe files to GU.exe (they don't run now, chrome still works, my problem solved)
It just annoys me when a prog leaves something running on your machine when you're not using that prog.
Hmmm... wasn't aware that Google Update was being installed. That was sneaky of them.

[avatar_58]

Slashdot with the scoop (http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/03/0247205)

Apparently, Chrome is a bit on the fail side of things.

According to the google guy on shacknews this is a standard EULA and does not even apply to Chrome. My guess is they hastily copied it for the beta. Doesn't really excuse things, but they do NOT monitor what you browse or upload so this section is meaningless. They can't own that which they do not have (what you 'post').

This EULA refers mostly to Picasa.

[Nessus]

Just loaded it at work. I'm going to see if I miss this when at home or if I miss Firefox 3 at work. So far Firefox is better, I like the big new back button they have. It does open pages quickly I'll give it that. I also like how you can move tabs so easily and pull one out to open in a new window. I was surprised how few options there are in the settings. For instance there are no text options, I expected more control from Google.

[avatar_58]

I expected more control from Google.

Not from that install attitude. Sounds like they are trying to make it simplistic.

I like the little things about this browser. "Paste and go" in the url bar for instance. I also noticed the thread previews on this forum show up instantly, though I didn't test whether it's all tooltips.

[Nessus]

I was wrong about the text settings, they're there, I just missed them. Here's a great little comic book that explains exactly whats going on under the hood design wise. http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/

[Vroomfondel]

The comic was already mentioned in the third post, Its leaking is the reason Chrome was released so early in the first place.

Anyway, the more I use it, the more I like it. I definitely miss my firefox ad-ons (no easy way to access Google bookmarks, WTF?) but I'm sure that'll come.

[Kalki]

Could use an undo close tab option too.

But it's remarkably fast.

[Mountain Man]

no easy way to access Google bookmarks, WTF?
Eh? I thought they had discontinued Google bookmarks. At least they stopped maintaining the Google bookmarks Firefox plug-in, so I started using Foxmarks instead.

[Phayzon]

Looks cool, but Ill stick to Opera thanks. :)

[Nessus]

I was at project gutenberg and opened a huge text document, a few hundred pages. I wanted to save it by highlighting with edit - select all but I cant see how to do that. No problem I'll try file-save as but you can't! Is there a way to do these operations? There has to be doesn't there?

(EDIT) OK, I see, these operations are done in that little page icon next to the options over on the right hand side. WTF are they thinking by moving stuff like that from the left side where it's been since the dawn of time over to the right?

Edit again: I still can't save the page of text without highlighting it and copying. Damm.

[Daveman]

The lack of adblocking is going to irritate me. I wish it would save the size I give it when I open it. I have a very specific size I like the window to be, and while it saved the width I adjusted it to, it won't keep the height I like. :o And it keeps messing up my cookies, but I think I need to clear them anyway, so that's probably my problem. Either way, I'm still using it.

[Delta]

I was at project gutenberg and opened a huge text document, a few hundred pages. I wanted to save it by highlighting with edit - select all but I cant see how to do that. No problem I'll try file-save as but you can't! Is there a way to do these operations? There has to be doesn't there?

(EDIT) OK, I see, these operations are done in that little page icon next to the options over on the right hand side. WTF are they thinking by moving stuff like that from the left side where it's been since the dawn of time over to the right?
Ctrl+A perhaps?

Edit: Bah, ninja edit.

[Vroomfondel]

Eh? I thought they had discontinued Google bookmarks. At least they stopped maintaining the Google bookmarks Firefox plug-in, so I started using Foxmarks instead.

Dunno, it was easily accessible with Google toolbar in Firefox

[Theonewayman]

It really is fast (for now) i'm using it now to write this. :)

[Mountain Man]

It really is fast (for now) i'm using it now to write this. :)
Yeah, the more I use it, the more I like it. I no longer get lag when opening multiple tabs at once. My usual habit when browsing forums is I'll middle-click multiple topics of interest and then go through the tabs and read them. In Firefox, I usually get some slowdown in the current tab until all the tabs are finished loading and rendering. In Chrome, I get no slowdown at all, which is something I could get used to.

[Mr.Fibbles]

I don't know why but it seems that GHOST (http://g.ho.st) experiences a bit of lag. That may be because it is a Flash environment acting as an OS. It lags a bit but it seemed to have more graphical lags in Chrome than in FF3.

I'm just testing the things I use to get around on occasion as things go. At some point I am sure Chrome will get pretty potent. . .but right now it feels off for me and that isn't even the interface. I am feeling like it is as good as FF3.

[shiranui]

Very nice, but it suffers from the same thing all non-firefox browsers suffer from: no extensions.

Still, very promising for an initial release.

[8IronBob]

Yeah, I'm using the Beta right now. Looks like a kick ass browser to me. Definitely very streamlined, better looking than IE7 which Vista had out of the box, and does seem like one of the better browsers I've pretty much used. Nice tab design without that title bar above it, very high tech looking. Way to go Google... You know the hardcore web surfer's heart very well. :woot:

[ZuljinRaynor]

The more I'm using it the more I don't know... it's alright, it's nothing special, just fast but otherwise it's pretty weak.

[Usurper]

What is it with browser-makers not making tab select the next item in the url drop-down list? Do people really prefer to reach over to the damn arrow key? Stupid things like this kill the speed advantage of the renderer by making browser-interaction slower.

[bazboyz]

Here some news about chrome there a couple of minor flaws
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1843&tag=nl.e550
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1847&tag=nl.e550

[IwantMORE]

about:internets ;)

[hanged_man]

i'm quite pleased with chrome but but there are still a few things that should be considered in their future releases:
- WHERE is the middle-mouse button scrolling !!!! its when you click the mid button and you can scroll by moving your mouse back and forth. This is definitely a must for me
- when i download something i wish to choose the path where to download it to, therefore we need the save dialog
- and where's the homepage button !!!
- How can i open the download tab !! ok i've read somewhere that there's a shortcut to get it (ctrl+j) but there must a button or something in the menus to get to it as well

[8IronBob]

Yeah, I would've guessed that it wasn't stable enough to be my default browser. Guess I'll reset the default browser back to IE7...

[IwantMORE]

I think this is the best <1.0 browser I have ever used.

It currently Version 0.2.149.27

I know Google over use the term Beta (gmail is still in beta.) but it's impressive that a first release can be so good and they have given themselves plenty of time and room to expand this into a fully cool browser by the time it get's to Version 1.0

Also it is the first example (for me anyway) of the power of open source. Google have snapped together open source bits and created a nice, fairly stable and secure bit of software.

This opens up the possible future where almost any company could release their own browser, or office suite, or any other software. Which to me is what open source was all about. It's the start of 'If you don't like it find a version you do' software. More versions are good for everyone, except the likes of MS & Adobe, and highlights even more the need for good standards and compliance to them.

[Crosma]

but it's impressive that a first release can be so goodNot really. It's just WebKit (which they didn't write) hooked to V8 (which they didn't write), running in multiple processes per tab and per plug-in. They didn't even fix any of the security holes/bugs/etc. in WebKit. Or contribute to WebKit at all for that matter.

Plus, word on the street is that the code is next to useless, being highly Windows specific and poorly put together. My guess is that the Linux and Mac versions aren't available because the programmers haven't even tried.

It's the whole point of open source, I guess. Google have taken other people's free work and improved upon it by hooking it together and packaging it well. It's like a sandwich. They took good ingredients and put them on top of each other in the right order.

I'm not dissing it. It works really well. It's just not anything special whatsoever. It's just a sandwich. Wait, what am I saying?

What I will say is this: Apple must be livid. There was no legal requirement for them to release the WebKit source code. They did it to try to recreate the success of Mozilla. Google took the source, did next to nothing with it and then got a lot more attention for releasing it. Good for them.

Again, I'm not knocking it. Stop hitting me.

[Bludd]

There's a folder called Chrome deep in the bowels of a Firefox install.

[The Stinger]

^Chrome is a Firefox theme.

[Bludd]

^Chrome is a Firefox theme.

So? It's still in all default installations.

It actually refers to this: "The visible graphical interface features of an application are sometimes referred to as "chrome"."

Google Chrome is named after this too.

[Delta]

Minor update for Google Chrome released today. Open the About dialog to see/install it.

Anyone have release notes? So far I noticed that the "about:%" crash bug was fixed.

[Samji]

The interface is... wow... worse than IE7 on first observance IMO.

That's not worse. It's minimalist. Tried it out today - interesting browser. Renders very fast. But I still :love: Firefox. :)

[Llama Gibbz]

Makes good use of vista aero theme,renders pages quick.
But no,plugins,extensions and full screen isnt near as "full" as firefox.



Firefox 3 is still champ.

Edit=May have found a bug.
Just tried to copy and paste some text and it wouldn't.
However i had no problem earlier.

[Daveman]

Facebook isn't entirely working. All the (Java-powered?) popups and some of the buttons aren't loading and sometimes clicks aren't registering.

[Llama Gibbz]

Closing the chrome browser seems to stop and delete current downloads.

Lame

Should at least warn you or ask if if want to comtinue downloading your file.

Edit=However i noticed file downloads are very significantly faster for me.
Whats up with that?

[Mr.Fibbles]

Facebook isn't entirely working. All the (Java-powered?) popups and some of the buttons aren't loading and sometimes clicks aren't registering.

hmm. I didn't even think about trying Facebook with Chrome (I don't think).

I'm not sure how much is Java powered, but I know there is a lot of javascript and css going on there.

[Llama Gibbz]

Ive been using this exclusively now for 2 days now.

Im starting to like it.
If they work out the quirks and refine it enough once its out of beta,i may just drop firefox.

[ZuljinRaynor]

That's not worse. It's minimalist.

Too minimalist. That "file" tab thing in Chrome is horrible placed.

[avatar_58]

I just don't understand why IE7 and Chrome don't have menu bars (IE can be enabled, but in the wrong spot). What is so goddamn hard about following UI rules? Programs have a menu bar with File / Edit / etc on them. I don't care if you feel the creative urge to make a fancy looking menu, follow the standards.

[Mr.Fibbles]

I just don't understand why IE7 and Chrome don't have menu bars (IE can be enabled, but in the wrong spot). What is so goddamn hard about following UI rules? Programs have a menu bar with File / Edit / etc on them. I don't care if you feel the creative urge to make a fancy looking menu, follow the standards.

Dude, mellow out man. This is the new standard. . . There are no standards man. We are being groovy. Do whatever man. . .


Yes, I hate the hippie crap too. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Addendum:
Also, what is the "incognito mode" thing? It doesn't do what I think it does (go unseen on servers). . .so what is the point of it?

[avatar_58]

Porn surfin? Maybe Google took a look at usage numbers and realized appealing to the perverted male was well worth their time.

[Rellik66]

Incognito is good for visiting site you don't trust and errr... other things.

I got a laugh out of the page you get when starting a incognito window:
You've gone incognito. Pages you view in this window won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.

Going incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:
Websites that collect or share information about you
Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
Surveillance by secret agents
People standing behind you

Learn more (http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?answer=95464&hl=en-US) about incognito browsing.

[Superczar]

That's kind of cool actually, though, they (boss and coworkers) come back to my computer only to look at porn. :o :D

[Hudson]

It's pretty fail, also no Mac/Linux distributions sucks.. maybe they'll fix it in later versions. Personally I would have waited before releasing this.

[IwantMORE]

No built in RSS either...

[Taril]

I definitely love the speed of it and the independent process tabs and i kinda like the simplicity of the ui. But ill be sticking with Firefox for now.

[Daveman]

Has anyone had the problem on these boards where opening a thread at the "First New Post" sends you to the very bottom of the thread? It's pretty irritating, and it's not really hard to find where you were last, but it's irritating nonetheless.

[Mr.Fibbles]

Has anyone had the problem on these boards where opening a thread at the "First New Post" sends you to the very bottom of the thread? It's pretty irritating, and it's not really hard to find where you were last, but it's irritating nonetheless.

No such problem here. . .but I still miss the auto scroll and I feel that it loads really slow. . .

The editor is not finished loading. . .

[d3ad connection]

Has anyone had the problem on these boards where opening a thread at the "First New Post" sends you to the very bottom of the thread? It's pretty irritating, and it's not really hard to find where you were last, but it's irritating nonetheless.

I get that on Firefox at times. It is really annoying.

[Daveman]

It must be a cookies problem. I'll clear them.

[Llama Gibbz]

I used it quite exclusively the past 2 weeks.

No undo close tab,copy paste is fuxored and a slew other annoying bugs.
Not using it anymore until its more refined.

[Ivan]

Can't wait for Chrome to become their full-blown OS. :love:

[8IronBob]

Chrome is nice, but it's probably not stable enough to have the respect to be my default OS yet... I mean, it wound up doing so, but I'm still gonna use IE7/IE8 until Google can finally get some more respect with this.

Google is putting a nice effort behind Chrome, and I may probably use it on occasion, for doing media browsing, like podcasts or YouTube vids, etc..., but I'd never use it for casual, everyday browsing.
It's not meant for that...yet, imo. It will in time, but for right now, IE8's still king, up until Mozilla, Opera, Apple, or Google finally get their acts together.

[Usurper]

Developer preview of Chrome 2.0 is out (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090109-hands-on-google-leaps-forward-with-chrome-2-0-dev-preview.html).

In short, there's middle click scrolling and full page zoom now. Still no google toolbar, which some people really seem to care about for some reason, and it doesn't sound like they've quite hit on extension support yet, though their sort of built-in greasemonkey thing is a step forward.

[Hudson]

Or we can all just download this (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9427) :D

[Usurper]

That theme is so buggy that it contains a baby AND is drawn by a horse.

[Derwin]

Or we can all just download this (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9427) :D

The reason I stick with Chrome is because it uses such a small portion of the available screen real estate for UI. That theme seems to use more than the default Firefox theme!

[Simon Charles]

I'd use Chrome, if it had proper ctrl+mousewheel zoom like FF3. That alone makes me not want it. You can't invert the mousewheel to zoom in and the pages don't resize properly like FF3.

A shame, too. So much faster browsing with Chrome. The difference is amazing.

[Phait]

So apparently Chrome has chrap in it and so there is "Iron":
http://www.blogsdna.com/1035/free-download-google-chrome-clone-browser-srware-iron-021520-installer.htm

There are several concern raised with Google Chrome Browser, one biggest concern among chrome users is Google Chrome Privacy Policy. With this privacy policy, Google gets enough power to get smallest details like which user is surfing what.

Google Chrome Browser is based on Chromium-Source which is open source project, SRWare has used this open source Chromium to build Iron browser which is a clone of Google Chrome and emulates exactly same features like Google Chrome.

Iron browser has disabled following tracking features

Client id – every Google Chrome Browser has unique client id to track users surfing habits, Google Suggest, Timestamp of installation, URL tracker, RLZ tracking, Chrome Updater Alternet Error Page and Error Reporting.

Another good thing about Iron Browser is, it uses latest version of Webkit 525.19.

[Kristian Joensen]

Reminds me of the whole Firefox-Iceweasel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_IceCat) situation.

[Usurper]

Whole blogospear was buzzing with the launch of Google Chrome Browser. However Google entering into Browser war was totally unexpected, it has created ditch like feeling after supporting open source Firefox and now launching its own browser.

Someone set us up the blogospear! Move every zig!

[Crosma]

it doesn't sound like they've quite hit on extension support yet, though their sort of built-in greasemonkey thing is a step forward.

The whole Mozilla code-base is built from the ground-up to be extensible. Extensions are just written in JavaScript, but elevated to a higher level of privilege, so they can adapt parts of the browser (which are otherwise available anyway, just not accessible). The interface code employs an XML user-interface language called XUL, which can be accessed entirely by JavaScript. Hooks are provided for C/C++ too, if you want higher performance. Pretty much everything in the Mozilla code-base is underlying C/C++ with accessible JavaScript on-top, hooked in.

This is why it took from 1998 to 2002 to get to Mozilla 1.0. It is a complete cross-platform (Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX, Unixware, HP-UX, MacOS, OS/2, et al) application run-time environment, with the browser (arguably still the one with the most support for different technologies) as the primary application. Emacs is a text-editor on Lisp and Firefox is a browser on JavaScript.

In comparison, Chrome is somewhere around Notepad. Of course it's faster. That's because it doesn't actually do very much compared to Firefox. Not a bad thing necessarily, but that's why Chrome isn't exciting. It doesn't have the mature and highly powerful code-base that Firefox has, and isn't being developed in that direction. The Greasemonkey support is just hard-coded in, which is pretty lame and lazy these days.

None of the other browsers support proper extensions either, or only do so in a very limited manner. This is because they'd need to re-write the whole thing if they wanted to. Mozilla went through all that, but no-one else has.

All of this also explains why Firefox ends up being kinda slow.

[Llama Gibbz]

Trying chrome again.
Its seems to handle streaming content better?

For example watching a youtube video in IE and FF,it would stop a lot to buffer.
With chrome,it doesn't.

Edit=
They still havent fixed copying and pasting text.
Sometimes the text text you copy doesnt paste with the right click menu.

[Crosma]

The up and coming Firefox 3.5 and Safari 4 (and the version of Opera after 10, which will probably be a while) will have new JavaScript engines. Chrome's performance isn't going to be special for very long. The only real performance edge is the JavaScript just-in-time compiler.

Meanwhile, Microsoft haven't even got a new JavaScript engine in the works. Their current one is so messed-up and integral to Windows itself that they may just stick with their archaic non-JIT engine and hope no-one notices. Putting up with the slowness of IE8's JavaScript is going to be painful for developers.

[Dopefish7590]

I use Chrome as my default browser on my Windows system, and I haven't really run into any problems. It's minimalistic, maybe a bit too minimalistic for a few people, but I find most of the stuff convenient. The main bugs people mentioned in this thread don't really have an effect on me since I use [Ctrl+C] and [Ctrl+V] for copy/paste. And there is an "Undo close tab" it's just on the front page for Chrome where you can click a "Previously closed tab" to restore it.

And the sandboxing of segments of Chrome make it really quite secure, only serious user error could allow any attack to be all that effective. (At least according to Charlie Miller, winner of the Pwn2Own hacking contest)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pwn2own-mac-hack,2254.html

[Marty Chang]

Been using Chrome since it came out, and I love it. Two beefs with it however.

Beef the first: Webkit apparently has this issue where animated GIFs slow down in speed as they keep playing. This is a major problem with long, big GIFs, where the speed slows down to a crawl. I keep Firefox so I can look at GIFs without this issue.

Beef the second: It uses Webkit, so a few websites built for Firefox and IE (Quake Live, for example) get upset when you use Chrome. I keep Firefox for this reason, as well.

Otherwise, my favorite browser in the whole wide world.