When a new browser enters the market, people generally split up into two categories. The first group thinks, “Great! Anything that moves us towards a more standards oriented environment is a good thing!” The other group, neither better nor worse, thinks to themselves, “Ohh gee. Yet another browser that I’ll have to test my sites in. Enter Chrome. Today, Google officially entered the browser wars. No matter which group you fall into, you’ll inevitably find yourself downloading this new browser.
If you compare the browsers of 1996 to the browsers of today, you’ll find that, truthfully, they haven’t evolved that much. Sure, they’re more standards aware. But generally speaking, they’ve essentially remained unchanged over the last decade. Google is hoping to change that.
The Start Up
If you haven’t already, pay a quick visit to Chrome’s site and download the browser. *Note – at this time, Chrome is only available for Windows. A mac browser will emerge within the next few months.
Google is one of the pioneers of the concept “Less is more”. Their home page is laughably simple – but it works beautifully. Keeping in line with this branding, Chrome is deceptively plain, in reference to its UI. Open Firefox or Explorer and you’ll find enough options to bury your grandmother with: File, Edit, History, etc. Chrome, on the other hand, simply has an “Options” and “Tools” menu, which can be accessed via the icons on the far right side of the browser window.
Opera?
Not only did Google borrow webkit as its rendering engine, but it also adopted the concept of a home page specifically tailored to you. Many users prefer Opera’s “speed dial” home page – which allows the user to quickly access their favorite sites. However, Chrome has taken it one step further. The “speed
dial” links on your home page will dynamically change depending on the most frequently accessed sites. Pretty nifty, eh?
V8
Quite possibly the most exciting feature of Chrome is that the developers built the javascript engine from the ground up. It is only natural that as our web applications continue to advance, the old engines must be rebuilt. Consider Flickr, Twitter, and Gmail, to name a few. Sites like these are leading the pack as browsers desperately try to keep up, like an old man who smokes ten packs of cigarettes a day. The old way is dying, and a new faster engine is being born. Luckily, keeping in line with Google’s “We want the web to be better” philosophy, V8’s core is independent of the browser. This means that future browsers can implement this engine if they desire.
In laymen’s terms, v8 = faster Javascript!
Separate Processes
You know the drill. You have eight tabs open in your browser – all serving a purpose – but suddenly, a plugin goes into destroy mode and you find yourself having to “force quit” the program. This is because when a plugin combines with an html document, they both run in the same process. So if one “shuts down”, they all suffer. To compensate for this shortcoming, the creators of Chrome created a separate process specifically for plugins. Imagine this: In one tab, you’re running an app that is extremely memory heavy. Rather than slowing down the entire browser, the processes in one tab will have zero effect on the others. This is because each web application is run in its own environment. Easily, this is the most appealing feature of Chrome.
Other Important Features
- Gears. This essentially adds an API that will allow the browser to be extended.
- Sandboxing. This will allow for greater protection against malware. Constantly, Chrome will update its list of “dangerous” sites. If you happen to access one of these sites, you’ll receive a warning.
- Omnibox. Each tab will have its own address bar, called the “Omnibox”. Not only will you be able to enter addresses, but it also offers searching, and search suggestions – based upon site ranking.
How Will This Affect My Web Developing?
The answer to that question still remains to be known. As when any new browser is released/updated, I spent twenty minutes this afternoon checking all of my clients’ sites. Everything worked perfectly! Keep in mind that Chrome is still using the webkit engine. At least for the time being, the main differences that this browser will bring are UI related. Even so, I look forward to the developer extensions that will surely be released in the coming months.
Will you have to completely scrap all of your knowledge because of what this browser represents? Absolutely not. If anything, Google is working to allow you to be even more creative when developing.
So What’s the Verdict?
Though it’s hard to decide in just a day, Google’s Chrome is a fast, beautiful, and simple browser. Honesty, would you want anything else?
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chrome dom inspector > Firefox plugins
@Jeremy
For Developers – firebug included alreaded
right click on a page and click on “Inspect Element”. It is essentially Firebug with YSlow already plugged in. Thanks Brandon for bringing that to my attention.
WOW.. ultra fast startup… faster than any known browser. I ‘ll switch to it as soon as Google brings the RSS subscriber to standard and supports it toolbar for it’s browser.
I used it for a little bit.
I’m impressed by its speed…but will continue to use Firefox until there’s more little features.
I’ve been expecting this for some time now…There’s been several hints that foreshadowed this. Personally, I’m excited!
It’s cool and everything. But it always comes down to extensibility. Firefox is popular because it is not only extensible, rather it’s easily so. Almost anyone with brief direct for programming can write an extension. If Chrome, entering the already crowded but rather hungry browsers market, better start considering that soon, or it’s doomed, all IMVHO of course
The integrated Task-manager for nerds is a great thing
I think this browser so far is fantastic..for such an early beta. I used it about 3 hours last night and today and so far have loved most everything about it. It is fast for one, looks great and doesn’t clutter your screen.
I have noticed a few flaws ,noticeably in facebook (and reason i’m saying this is because i’m sure it happens in other sites as well). I can go to view people’s pictures and for some reason after 2-3 photo views the link stops working. Weird huh?
Other than that I think it is great and the crossover from firefox/IE to chrome is beautiful. I had everything that was saved in firefox moved over to chrome in a matter of seconds. Great work google, hope to see it get even better.
More benchmarks: http://lifehacker.com/5044668/beta-browser-speed-tests-which-is-fastest
Security researcher Avivi Raff has discovered a carpet-bombing vulnerability that could expose Windows users of Google Chrome browser to serious security attacks. This is the same vulnerability that was originally discovered in Apple’s Safari browser by another well-known researcher – Nitesh Dhanjani – four months ago.
http://www.palluxo.com/2008/09/03/apple-safari-carpet-bomb-flaw-hits-google-chrome-browser/
I wish i could download this for the mac…….
I am really glad that it is not available for Mac yet. To me it’s just more reason for Mac users to feel BAD about their OS.
I dont wanna try it yet,
I love my firefox
but it seems I’ll have to replace it soon!
I am using Chrome now and the only downside is that I don’t have the tools I have with Firefox. Other than that I can see it really changing browser, especially since Google has such a far reach, resource and bright minds.
@Kazi : thank you very much dear. well, can we see the bookmarks and cash or say cookie of this browser?
Great summary – I happened to write quick ‘designers review’ of the UI here, but this definitely hits it from another useful and interesting angle. I’ve been using (and frankly, loving) Chrome for the past few days, and the things that have really popped out at me are the absense of some of my favorite plugins like Firebug (yes, this is included… sorta… in the context menu) and FireFTP – not to mention the lack of some plugins (uploading photos on Facebook isn’t supported). Still, as a browsing experience, there are some supremely exciting and innovative ideas happening in Chrome. Thanks for your take on it – always great to see a new product like this from different perspectives
If you like Chrome’s stripped down Web Inspector, you will love the original, full featured version in the WebKit nightlies. Cheers!
Im also waiting for the mac version. It’s all great with the competition and all. I just hope they all will use the very same webstandards. Hacks and workarounds really is a pain in the !”#. At least hopefully IE6 will be out of the picture soon !!
So far im testing in IE6, IE7, FF pc, FF mac, Safari and Chrome will wihtout a doubt be adden to the list as soon as the alpha is out.
It’s a nice and uncluttered browser – we all knew Google would release a browser one day, and it’s a welcome addition to the market IMO.
Well, I have down loaded it and started to play around with it. I have to say that I like some things about it. But as a whole, i don’t think it is that great. I like how the tabs play the central role, and i like the the app tab (athough it is kind of like fullscreen mode in IE). I also like how they seperate out each tab as it own working process (this is perhaps my favorite, and somthing i have been asking microsoft to do for years). I think that V8 is a welcome addition to javascript, but not sure that I think that a new javascript engine is the answer to javascript. I am sure that some of you will be pissed of when i say this, but I think it is time to look at something new for client side programming entirely, but I think V8 is diffinatley a step in the right direction.
I don’t like webkit that much, some thing are just kind of wierd with what it renders (given, nothing is as wierd as IE6). The omnibar seems to me like taking a step back, i can still type in the searches into my address bar, and sure the omni bar can search other sites besides your default but hou have to start typing the the url first, then have it come up, then hit tab. To me search bar is easier for this. I have been running tests on 4 PC’s now (Windows XP MCE, Windows XP Pro, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Home Premium).
It is fast, but so far IE 8 seems to be faster(in actuall page renders), I would love to run a test on a site that is just overloaded with javascript though and see V8 really shine. And compared to Firefox it will be some time before all those plugins are available.
The main issue for me is that it is hard to break from IE. I deal in business apps and enterpises, and Unfortuanatly, there is a heavy use of active x, in this realm (especially with microsoft solutions, OWA, CRM, etc.) not saying I like it, but its there (when I make something from scratch a stay away from axtive x). Also I hate the idea of loading 2 apps on a system to do the samy thing. And since there is no really good way to cepletly remove IE I usually stick with it. And I usually suggest to my clients to do the same thing (please no yelling, Firefox is great, its simply a support desicion, I am 100% garenteed o recieve a larger number of support tickets if there is a second browser on the system). I just hope and pray that IE makes some good changes. IE 7 was a step in the right direction, and IE 8 is looking great. I might suggest everying who is trying this out keep an open mind and try IE 8. At least so you know the IE won’t mangle your sites as much as it did in the past (IE 5 and 6).
Anyway, chrome is a good start with some great key features, and some things that I don’t find so great. But , it will definatly catch the eye of google lovers, not to mention that you have to know that the only reason there making the browser is to push their google apps (app window). I still think it will be some time before it catches up with Firefox and IE.
@john “It is fast, but so far IE 8 seems to be faster(in actuall page renders)”
I hope this some kind of mistake; or Microsoft is paying you to say this. Come to think of it, even if Microsoft paid me to say that, I couldn’t have said that without selling my soul and severely damaging my conscious.
IE8 is faster that chrome….??
Oh my god, I need to sit down and take a break.
Webkit renders up to spec, or is suppsoed to.
well, I knew this would be a debate. i am counting page load times of pages I comonly use. Non – microsoft pages. No Micrososft doesn’t pay me. And I am not the only one getting these results. Look here http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/BLOG01/80903032/1001/NEWS and another study here http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/09/03/36TC-browsers_1.html.
I have to say, that I plan on running some test tonight on the scriptalicious pages and other pages that have alot of javascript so I can see V8(the only thing that I think will really seperate chrome in the new browsers) at it best. Any suggestions on some site with large amounts of javascript would be great. I can say that chrome seems faster than IE 7. And IE 8 was only barley ahead for me to the point that if i wasn’t trying to measure it I would say it most likley wouldn’t be noticable. Take this for what it is, these apps are only betas, and in the web speed is only truly messured by when a page looks as if it is fully loaded and ready, so this can vary from person to person. For my test I randomlly selected the most visited websites from my clients to test. I didn’t test sites like myspace or youtube or flickr. That would actually be interesting and maybe i will do that over the weekend.
Truthfully there really aren’t a whole lot of things google is bringing to the table here that isn’t in IE 8 (beta 2, which was released a week prior to chrome) already, accept major kudos for V8, and the ability to pull tabs out to there own window and recombine them.
All in all, i said chrome was a good start, especially for a first beta release. People who like Google and appreciate the less is more stance will love it ( I actually love this part of it). But i think it will just take time to come full circle as a replacement Firefox and IE. Feature wise i think it is above firefox, but you got to love some of those firefox add-ons.
Anyway, run your own tests. if you think Chrome faster, ok, I cant argue as there is no super scientific way to actually measure the load time of every browser with real world examples. Also my test are on clean virtual systems, new os image and instal of browser, so that plays into it as well.
http://lifehacker.com/5044668/beta-browser-speed-tests-which-is-fastest
When it comes to speed, there is no contest between IE8 B2 and chrome. Between FF3.1b and Chrome, the honors are even.
I have been an active reader of IE8 blog and tested the beta2 even before the public release (if you follow IE8 blog, there was a private beta release even before the public release). To say that IE8 beta2 is “faster”, or even in any sense of imagination, “better”; is a gross over statement and a blatant lie.
IE8 beta2 just sucks so bad, it’s not even funny.
To say that Google aren’t “a whole lot of things Google is bringing to the table here that isn’t in IE 8 (beta 2, which was released a week prior to chrome) already” – only proves the point that you really don’t know what your are talking about. And probably didn’t even use Chrome for more that 5 minutes (if at all).
Every single element of the browser (except for the webkit) is built from scratch – are new ideas – and haven’t been used by other browser before the release of chrome.
Please don’t bother testing/reviewing it – let the pros do it, because not only that you don’t know what you are talking about – you will most likely misinform others. You are better off not using it at all.
Sorry, but i still beg to differ. Yes i have seen the lifehacker post. I haven’t run thos test but I would hardly say they are real world. But I wont claim to dispute them except to say on brand new installs the numbers aren’t as far apart as it is in his post but yes, I did rank them in about the same order. Also a went to scriptalicious, jquery, and moo tools sites, and I have to say that here I give the edge to chrome. But to say IE 8 sucks i would have to say that you are simply not being totaly honest.
I do read the IE8 blogs, I also have used IE 8 since prior to the first public beta. Which was bad. But beta 2 is out now and is what I am testing. And I don’t actually think there are that many new ideas from chrome even though they might be building it from scratch. IE 8 went back to the drawing board and started from scratch on a lot of things.
But I will just now focus on what I like about chrome(that it either does better then the others or the other don’t do) as I was not trying to create an argument, just trying to state that there are reasons the browser has a way to go before people completely replace there current browsers.
I am using chrome right now actually and have been using it and nothing else on my home pc since the beta was announced. So here are my likes.
1. It does tabs better – I like that the tabs take center stage can be pulled of into there own window an recombined.
2. V8 rocks – The more I read about it the more I like it. I have wanted a replacement to javascript on the client side for a while know, V8 isn’t a replacement but it satifies almost all the reasons why I would have liked to see a replacement. I never though javascript would ever be that fast (refering to the google optimized V8 test). This will be awesome.
3. this kind of goes with the first point. But I am a less is more guy and love the interface it truly makes a website feel more like an application. And I like how downloads are handled. I want to see how they add more features without cluttering the user interface. (for example, A truer favorites manager, RSS reader, I would like to see web slices supported (right now an IE8 thing, but i would love to see all browser start to support these things).
4. Open Source – I like that Google did this. but they always do. I wish Microsoft did this, my vote was for it when they asked the community since they are trying to offer more and more open source. But in the end I understand why they decided to keep it closed. They was just so much to consider since they have to make it work with a lot of legacy stuff.
There there is my list of the pluses that I see in chrome. They aren’t all new ideas but they did make these better.
Still using FF3 because firebug for my coding and for my other ff extensions.
I’m just using chrome on google websites. and gmail is always open on my chrome, at least that way its consuming less memory and cpu process.
Go Google!
Anybody here already know the easter egg on it
type about:internets on address bar and see for yourself
I think it’s great that shows up one more competitor in this market – greater competition – better result for us
Of course I`m not sure Google Chrome could ever be better agains FireFox and it’s great collection of addons, which are irreplaceable! Thanks for article! I`m checking Chrome right now too!
When Chrome supports a wealth of developer-aimed extensions like Firefox, I’ll consider using it all the time.
It’s funny, because I started using it to write a blog post on my own website, and I wasn’t that keen. After about an hour, I really liked the feel of it as a user, and have continued to use it at home.
At work, I’m still using firefox on a daily basis, because of extensions like Firebug and Web Developer toolbar.
Chrome’s got a lot of nice features, and while there are some issues, it is the first beta version, and its standards support is good. It isn’t going to kill off IE, let’s be honest, but if it opens people’s eyes, then that can only be a good thing.
IE is getting better, too, let’s not forget that.
I really enjoy what Google has done with this browser. And think it’s a good start, but I can’t see using it as my default browser. This is mainly due to the fact that I’ve been getting a few errors that make the browser almost unusable with some sites, usually where Flash is concerned. While that may be an isolated incident, it somewhat lessens my enthusiasm for Chrome.
I totaly agree, this is an amazing start. What they basically were able to do were take some of the best features from all the other browsers and wrap them up in single browser.
I really cant say that it can ever hope to replace IE in an enterprise/business enviroment. But I am looking forward to using it at home. The user interface is great, and I would love for IE to learn some things here (mainly making the tab they central part, not a scondary aspect), becuase i think the UI fits the enterprise enviroment better as it does somhow accomplish making a website feel more like an application. If this was done i would even be ok with IE keeping the other buttons (I have customized my IE to only have 3 more buttons) and seperate search box as I actually still prefer this.
As far as speed goes, I will say this. I ran test all night last night from my actual pc and not the test enviroments(were everything was a new install) I didn’t have IE8 on that box. but it kicks the living daylight out of IE7. Part of this might be all the plugins and addons loaded in IE7, but I think chrome with all these plugins would still be faster.
If some plugins start being made, to add some needed functionality, I will be happy to replace firefox with it.
I tried to used this browser and wow looks nice and loads faster but I still used FF3 because of its add ons. FF still the best browser in town for web developers and designers.
It is still far behind ff3. ff3 has firebug and webdeveloper which is default for web developers. Spelling check is a killer functionality. Some javascript functions are implemented strangely. Chrome has problems in rending many pages, including iGoogle page… But it is sure better then M$’s product.
btw: If you are seeking something capable of rending page quickly and you are using windows, try Safari win edition. It’s incredibly fast! Also google’s browser is not as fast as it is advertised. See
http://lifehacker.com/5044668/beta-browser-speed-tests-which-is-fastest
-mingz
Chrome SUCKS! In the terms and conditions, if you publish anything onto the net, blog, youtube, facebook etc… they can use it how ever they want, with out paying you! I know it’s really fast, but totally not worth it.
Perfect business model. Capture enough users, push paid ads to the top of the autofill and drive the money to the bank. With greater type in traffic trending upwards, this could be seen as a grab for more cash, that has very little benefit for average small businesses trying to create a web presence.
For example; type in http://www.news.com into firefox and chrome. Chrome presents me with a choice of news.cnet.com printed in green….. (the number one searched term if you were to type in news.com into the search field)
Nothing wrong with this at all – they own the search information, they own the advertising network and they own how you are presented with information (if you use chrome). The pitfall in my opinion is not so much the development tool aspects, but how you help your clients compete. Unless you are number 1 or 2, you will be forced to spend more on advertising in order to be “found.”
As a small business owner, who is also paying the salaries of “web development activities” I fail to see how Chrome is a net benefit to the general internet community. On the other hand, I’ll top up my Google share portfolio………
The concept isn’t bad and I like the idea of a new browser but… everyone knows what Google does with your personal information. With downloading Chrome you aggree with sharing your information with Google and God knows, what they’ll do with it.
I don’t want anyone to be able to know WHERE I’m surfing, WHAT I’m surfing for and WHY. That’s why I deleted Chrome after giving it a try. For me the best browser is firefox.
Greetings,
LBrother
chrome is a sweet browser I really like it. Just need to fix up little details.
I think we all know what the “incognito mode” is for. Eh, eh?
Some months passed now since its launch and it hasn t become as popular as much as I thought it would become
The only major flaw in google chrome for me is; there is no SEND LINK. If I want to e-mail a page i’m reading. Like a G-Mail send button PLease. I am probably missing something here because none of the other comments addressed this. Otherwise the lightening speed of chrome is such a major positive over [take forever boot up firefox] that, i’m almost ready to make chrome my default browser. I thought I could not live without READ IT LATER and MOUSE GESTURES but chrome comes close. Is anybody else concerned about the supposed major security weakness with CARPET BOMBING for Chrome: Avivi Raff security resercher?
I still haven’t tried chrome yet
must do that soon.