First 5-minute Impressions With Google Chrome
Yesterday Google’s new browser, Chrome was announced so today I downloaded and installed it onto my work Windows XP box to see what all the fuss is about and check for cross compatibility on sites we work on. I spent about 5 minutes poking around, if I can’t figure out how to use a browser in 5 minutes, it’s too complicated for anyone but the most 733t 1337.
Download was very small; it then opens an applet and downloads the rest of the software. Installation requires Firefox to be shut down so Chrome can import all your bookmarks, favorites, history and passwords; this goes quickly and rather painlessly. Next you get a TOS about reporting options for crashes, I denied their request and the install was complete.
Upon launching Chrome for the first time an unusual question is asked, “Do you wish to keep Google as your default search engine?” It’s unusual in that, it’s a Google product and the first thing about this new killer app is to strip out Search, the one thing Google does very, very well. I selected to keep it.
All my bookmarks and history imported, what didn’t was my homepage. I’m a long time iGoogle user and rely on the RSS feeds to get me caught up quickly at a glance to what is going on with the sites I follow. Not there. Instead six white boxes stare at me. A little note tells you that these are your most visited sites. Nice idea, but not for me. I easily look at 50+ sites in six different tabs of iGoogle. There is no apparent way to set a traditional “homepage” only what Google wants you to see.
The other thing lacking is an option to show the status bar. I rely on the status bar while at work and home to see where any link will take my, by hovering over it. There are also several add-ons for Firefox that sit in my status bar that I’ve come to love, from what I can tell in Chrome, there is no status bar option.
On the plus side, it is fast. How fast? I don’t have scientific numbers or pretty pie charts, but it really feels fast. One site that I know uses a fairly common Java plugin to run an app wouldn’t work and there was no option to install it but everything else on the dozen or so sites I quickly browsed seem to work.
Is Chrome the next killer app? Hard to say now, Firefox has such a loyal, loving fan base to it, but I think this could compliment it very well.
13 Comments
There is no status bar but if you mouse over a link, look to your left on the bottom of your screen and you can see where a small pop-up comes out showing the URL. This way Chrome is saving some space at the bottom of your screen thus giving you more screenspace
Im really just liking how fast this browser is. Downloads speed is important for me and Chrome seems to be the best at it.
Not impressed!! You can’t set a homepage – the EULA gives google access to ALL data that goes through the browser. Sounds like an MS move. Anyway – that and no extension community like FF – I’ll stick with the fox.
Wow, within 5 seconds of me seeing this website, i noticed a horrible typo. If you are going to be lame and (ab)use leetspeak, at least get it right…
7 = t
3 = e
733t = teet
@ Mike Panic: Same here! I’m juggling between Firefox and Chrome simultaneously. BTW I think Google just copy pasted their EULA from Google Docs. Isn’t there a penalty for copying content
There is a setting in options that allows you to set the homepage. To the right of the address bar, click the wrench. On Startup -> Open the Home Page
Then set your home page in the next section.
Not sure how you missed that. I’m 15 and I figured it out in about 2 minutes
I didn’t like this new fast browser in the first 5 minutes. Now I get back to FF2.0
I’m not likely to switch to Chrome, though I have to admit it’s a pretty good browser. It’s fast, it’s got a good UI, I like the OmniBar. But I just can’t function online for too long without all of my Firefox extensions. I think we’ll be seeing more of Chrome’s features in Firefox sometime though.
Oh, and there is an option to set a normal homepage in Chrome. You click one of the drop-downs to the right of the OmniBar, choose Options, and the first screen should have the settings right there.
P.S. I have a lengthier right up here if anyone’s interested: http://www.webmaster-source.com/2008/09/05/google-chrome/
“complement”, not “compliment”
Chrome is good, but firefox is better.