Here’s a new video from the Google Chrome development team talking about Google Chrome’s updated new tab page:

Ok, it’s time for part 3 of our in-depth Google Chrome Review.
 
If you haven’t had a chance to read the first two parts yet, check them out:

[ Part 1 ]    [ Part 2 ]
 
After nearly a week putting Google Chrome through its paces, it’s definitely growing on us here at Google Chrome Review. It’s been floating in and out of default browser status as I try to get my work done, and will probably stay in love/hate status until a couple of things are cleared up. It has several killer features and a couple of painful omissions. Read on for the best and worst of Google Chrome.
 
Tabs 
 
Tabs are nothing new in the browser game, but Google has managed to add a couple of interesting features that improve the tab interface in some subtle but exciting ways.

First, in Google Chrome the tab has become the top-level interface element. Tabs are no longer subservient to the address bar and the other toolbars.  This isn’t all that big of a deal in and of itself, but it does enable what I think is one of the coolest new features of Chrome, and one of two features that will keep Chrome in the race to be my default browser.

Anyone who has been moving to using web apps and tabbed browsing has surely run into this sort of scenario.  You have some banking transactions open in one tab, and a Google Docs spreadsheet open in another, and you want to quickly make a couple of entries in your spreadsheet using values from the bank statement.
 
In Firefox or IE, this evoked one of two scenarios:

• a whole lot of switching back and forth between tabs while trying to remember numbers or cutting and pasting things
• or, a painful combination of keystrokes or mouse movements to move one of the tabs to a new window so you could look at them side-by-side.  In Firefox, this was something along the lines of Alt-D, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-N, Alt-D, Ctrl-V, Enter, Alt-Tab, Ctrl-W - not exactly user-friendly.

With Google Chrome, this problem is solved.

You see, in Google Chrome each tab is a full independent citizen of the windowing world. You can just grab one, drag it out, and it instantly creates a new instance browser instance. Or drag it back in and it will settle in to the tab bar. You can also drag a tab easily from one browser instance to another.
 
Address / Search Bar
 
This is the other “killer feature” in Google Chrome. What seems at first a “so what” feature (IE and FF both have some fashion of interpreting non-URL text typed into the address bar, right?) turns out to be rather liberating for the user.
 
It’s also (in this author’s opinion) the key reason Google wants Chrome in the hands of users.
 
I’ve seen a lot of speculation on Google’s reasons for making a browser of their own. Much of it is centered around changes to cookie handling in Internet Explorer 8. I agree that this can give Google more control over some of those factors. But, I think what they’ve done with Chrome is both more subtle and more brilliant than that.
 
Chrome’s “Omnibar” effectively replaces the entire domain name system with Google Search.

You see, what Google has done here is encourage the most basic of novice user behaviors - typing gibberish into the address bar. And, they’ve managed to make that same behavior attractive to even power-users. I’ve found that after nearly a week of using Chrome for at least half of my browsing activity, I’m getting less and less concerned about remembering URLs or choosing to search. I can just punch up the browser bar, type whatever comes to mind, and be pretty comfortable I’ll get to it in a click or two.
 
Sure, users can change their default search engine, but most won’t. And the more that don’t, the more search engine results pages Google gets to show.  And this means more ads.
 
Well done, Google.
 
Downloads
 
Like most of the interface elements in Chrome, the entire download interface is very minimalist and very clean.
 
There is no separate download pop-up like you see in most browsers.
 
When you click a download link, your download begins immediately and drops to a wide bar at the bottom of the browser, where you can watch the status of the download as it’s happening.

As you download more files, each new file goes to the far left of this bar, sliding the remaining files to the right.  When you run out of room on the bar, files drop off the right side (this download status bar also seems to show a maximum of four files, even if you have room for it to show more).
 
This bar is specific to the particular tab you have open, so you can see your most recent downloads on a per-tab basis.
 
To view all of your current and past downloads, you can click the “Show all downloads” link on the right side of the page.  This opens a new browser tab that shows all of your downloads sorted from most recent and grouped by date.  It’s again an incredibly clean interface.

I really like the lack of a download confirmation.  There’s no “you are about to download a file - are you sure?!” type message. There is still a normal confirmation when you go to open or run a downloaded file, so I don’t think this will be too much of a security issue for novice users.
 
Adaptive Homepage

I talked about this in some detail in Part 1 of this review, so I won’t go into too much detail here.
 
After a week, my view hasn’t change on it too much.  I don’t think I’ll really use it much, even though it looks pretty nice.
 
The “Most Visited” thumbnails move around too much to be as quick for me as typing the first couple of letters of my favorite sites’ addresses - generally I’m going to know the URL for my most visited sites.
 
Similarly, the “searches” feature is cool, but it’s much easier for me to type “ebay ” and my search term than to get to this page and click a search box. I do think this will be a very popular feature though for some users, and the discoverability of the “ebay ” shortcut could use some work.
 
The part of this page that might eventually become useful for me is the “Recently Bookmarked” section.  But, I need the delicious integration that I mentioned in Part 1 for this to work for me.

That’s all for part 3 of our in-depth Google Chrome review.  In part 4 we’ll continue looking at features of Google Chrome, including history, app mode, and keyboard shortcuts.  Stay tuned.

<< Part 2

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Review

They just keep coming.  Some are short, some are sweet, some are long, some are mean.

Most are somewhere in between, but Google has definitely made an impact with Chrome.

So, without further ado, here’s another huge but still incomplete list of Google Chrome Reviews.  Check back later today when I’ll be posting part 3 of our own in-depth Google Chrome review.

• Google Chrome Review - Download Here: http://www.google.com/chrome My editor for the blog no longer works. I think lots of people will find the WYSIWYIG editors for their blogs and such broken. I THINK FCK now works in latest version but I have yet to test. …
• Google Chrome review - So, after a lot of hype, Google Chrome is finally here. Google have market shares in every other web service and now they are trying their luck at the browser market. It is said that Chrome captured 1% of the worldwide market on the …
• Google Chrome - Review - When the news about the upcoming Google Chrome reached my ears, I was expecting a web browser that would change the rules of the game. Surprisingly, my first impression about Google Chrome was not that great. [Surprise - Since Chrome is ...
• Google Chrome Review - The Good: It is beta The Bad: It is beta Verdict: It is beta... but it seams zdnet, and majority of so called 'professional' Australian sites forgot that minor detail and are going full throttle, riding on the newest product from Google ...
• Google Chrome Review - Unless you’ve been on a remote island (without your iPhone!) for the last week you’re probably aware that Google have just released a beta version of their web browser, Google Chrome. Being the the geeks that we are, ...
• Google Chrome Review - Google has released its eagerly awaited browser named ‘Chrome’. The browser although still in its ‘beta’ stage of development is very much stable. The installation was pretty straight forward. Go to google.com/chrome and download the ...
• Innovate or emulate? Google Chrome review - On the 1st of September, Google made an official announcement about its new Open Source project code-named Google Chrome. It sent shockwaves through the tech community and a barrage of Rampant speculation over the future of Mozilla ...
• Google Chrome : review - This week the biggest event was the beta of google chrome. Everyone was excited at the office with this big news ! So the war of the browser is taking a new dimension. As the CEO of Mizilla is saying, it’sa good thing that a new ...
• Google Chrome Review - What I dislike? It doesn’t have Google Toolbar. Cannot copy paste easily - Try to copy an article and paste it in other application like MS Words. You can’t. Cannot change the search engine instantly like Firefox 3 search engine. ...
• Comment on Prism by Innovablog > Les web apps ont trouvé leur ... - [...] Chrome, grand frère de Prism [...]
• Google Chrome Review! - About couple of posts ago, I talked about the launch of Google Chrome which took the online community by storm, after couple of days I would like to give a full review on Google’s new free product. Why is Google Chrome Better then the …
• Google Chrome - Review - DCChrome Seeing how I haven’t installed any beta software lately (yeah right), I figured I jump in with everyone else on the net and see what’s up with Google’s new entry in the browser market. If you haven’t heard about Chrome yet, …
• Google Chrome Review - Yesterday i finally got access to Google Chrome Download Page, some time after the anouncement made on google’s official blog. The expectation was high and Google didn’t disappoint.
• Pocket Lint: Google Chrome Review - Pocket Lint writes: “he battle of the browsers rolls on, now with Google entering the fray with their Chrome browser. Becoming public on Tuesday, we got our hands on it to put it through its paces. Knowing Google, the “beta” tag will …
• Google Chrome - review - Google has released their very own browser. It is called CHROME. With all of the browsers out there why would anyone want to release yet another one? More importantly, why would anyone want to switch browsers? …
• Google Chrome Review - Google Chrome. Well it appears Google as taken another set closer to World Domination! Yesterday Google release a beta internet browser named Chrome. Not only was this an unexpected move on Google’s part, but it was huge secret that has …
• Google Chrome Review - Download - Google Chrome - is the newest browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. The truth is, I haven’t had a chance to check out this new browser from Google. …
• Google Chrome review - After a few days with the latest chrome browser released by Google I had mixed feelings about this and had my reservations. Here’s what I really liked about it though, the much boasted about optimized speed and individual browser …
• Google Chrome Review - Sorry for not having posted in the last days but there were no good news to post about. I’m sure you’ll like the following post because it’s all that people have been talking about lately. Enjoy the post ! …
• Google Chrome Review - Well, Google has made it’s entry into the browser wars with “Google Chrome”. It’s created quite a buzz; people have been downloading it out faster than a blink of the eye. The web has evolved from offering up mainly text pages to rich …
• Google Chrome Review - OK, so it’s now nearly 24 hours since I downloaded Google Chrome and my initial impression is that of a happy camper. The initial set up was very pain free. Install took under 3 minutes and it allowed the import of favourites from my …
• Google Chrome Review - I just downloaded Google’s latest web browser Chrome and it is really fun to use it. My first impression about this web browser is very positive because it is very easy and simple to use this web browser. Speed wise also Chrome web …
• Google Chrome Review and the Google Chrome Easter Egg - Google Chrome, it’s the new web browser in town. I’ve been using it for almost 2 days already and here are some of my observations:. What I like: Google Chrome Logo. It loads website faster than IE and Firefox. …
• Google Chrome Review - If I would write it would be: lame browser based on Apple’s quasi-open-source project webkit that returns this info to servers: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/525.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/0.2.149.27 …
• In response to: Google Chrome Review - I’m using it too, about few days and it’s fast, really fast. Hope so that soon will comes and non beta version
• Google Chrome Review Part Two - Google Chrome Review Part Two, Below | Google Chrome Review Part ONE Yesterday I wrote an introduction to Google Chrome Browser, making an initial review. Today I’ll follow up with a few more details about what makes this is a “leap” in …
• Google Chrome - Review - Anyone that uses Google, (the qualifier for this is the fact you are human) will have noticed that beneath that iconic search bar is a new link, directing you to Google Chrome, a Google web browser that as with all things Google, …
• Google chrome review - I know many of you have already used google chrome or try how google chrome works, it’s been 3 days since it was launch, it’s time to input some review on google chrome browser. I have been heard some comment on it and I want also to …
• Google Chrome Review - Aprox 2.5 years after Google claims they have no plans to release a web browser, they release Google Chrome, so it is good or bad? Sure Google Chrome is made by Google (All hail O mighty Google!) but does that make it a good web browser …
• Google Chrome Review - After having successfully launched their own webmail service, RSS reader, online suite and many other apps, having a Google web browser was only a question of time. Google Chrome has joined the so called web browser battle with a neatly …
• Google Chrome - Review - G oogle has released their own beta web browser, Google Chrome, but not without the BETA tag. Seeming to be going against current web browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari, Google promises safer web browsing, …
• Weekly Video: Google Chrome Review - Find out more about google chrome!
• Google Chrome Review - Time for me to review Google Chrome. Now from just using it for a few hours. This browser is fast. And I like fast. And the browers colors do reflect the fact that this is made my Google. And and it features are great. …
• Google Chrome Review - Features of Google Chrome - This about the review of Google Chrome’s features. Google chrome really performs well more than i expected. 1 Vote(s)
• Initial Google Chrome Review - Jason’s ASP.NET Blog – I listened to the announcement of Google Chrome this afternoon and also flipped through the comic book that Google released yesterday. My initial reaction was that Chrome is going to be just another browser that …
• Google Chrome review - Google Chrome touts itself as a completely new browsing experience, built from the ground up to meet the needs and challenges of a modern, content-rich Internet. The Chrome team even published a comic book explaining all of the …
• A Quick Google Chrome Review - So Google just released their new browser. And even though I’m not that technical, I certainly can give my review of it. One of the tools I use most often is the Google toolbar and at first glance, you would think that Google would’ve …
• Google Chrome Review - Like everyone these days I downloaded, installed, and started testing Google Chrome browser. So first things first, my very first experience with the brand new Google Chrome browser has been … a bug ! …
• Google Chrome - a review - It works, but there doesn’t seem to be any point. The Help file doesn’t mention any point, and there’s no Point section on the download page. Can anyone clarify the point of it? Maybe we’re just a bit old to go learning slightly new …
• Cloud Computing: A Google Chrome Review - So the cat is out of the bag. Google Chrome has been released. For those who haven’t heard of it, Google Chrome is a browser in which Google designed the way they think a browser should be: a… Copyright © 2008 Will Garcia ? …
• Google Chrome Review - OK, I know I said in an earlier post that I was going to test drive Google’s new browser for about a week and get back to you. Well, one day of using the browser was enough for me to draw my conclusions. …
• Google Chrome : Review (updated) - Well I am writing this review in Google Chrome and so far so good. Pros:. Search and address / URL bar are now one: I like that because it reduces the amount of screen real estate we use. And you can still set your preferred Search …
• Google Chrome Review - Visit http://www.google.com/chrome to download and start exploring. (For the moment, it’s available only for Windows users, but you can sign up on the download page to learn when the Mac and Linux versions are available. …
• Google chrome Review - Hi reader , since i was busy with my class exam it took me more time to write my reviews on go ogle chrome. Yet another BETA product from google . This time its fast , elegant browser . I almost played a day with chrome before …
• Comment on Prism by Google Chrome Review, Looks Nice And Works Fast - [...] Chrome also has a Mozilla Prism like functionality where you can open the webpages like an application from your [...]
• Beta Sniper: Google Chrome Review - Google Chrome is the new browser from, uh, Google. It is the search behemoths take on the frontier mostly dominated by Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox. Till august, according to Browser Statistics, IE had 50.6%, Firefox had 43.7%, …
• Google Chrome Review - Today, when i surfing to the internet I accidently found a web browser from Google called Google Chrome. I’m really don’t know that google already build up their own web browser. Pity on me. Than I install the web browser and now i want …
• GOOGLE CHROME REVIEW from the perspetive of a Firefox “fanboy” - My GOOGLE CHROME REVIEW from the perspetive of a Firefox “fanboy” 1.) Google Chrome installs itself into a directory that´s hidden by default in Windows XP. That´s ..\documents and settings\USER\local settings\application data\Google …
• Comment on First hour with Google’s new browser by » Google Chrome … - [...] First hour with Google’s new browser [...]
• Google Chrome Review - I am going to keep this short and sweet. - Minimal interface giving more real estate on desktop screen. - Individual tabs run in their process, so if one fails it does not affect another. (But try this and see what comes up …
• Early Google Chrome Review - I just downloaded Google’s new browser, Chrome, this morning. First impression: Two thumbs up. The download was very quick and after the download there was no need for the computer to be shut down and re-started. …
• Google Chrome Review (IT News Africa) - On Tuesday Google released Google Chrome to great fanfare. IT is rumored that this 2 year project was aimed at knocking Microsoft\’s Internet Explorer off the number 1 spot in the war to be the … [[ This is a content summary only. …
• Especially for MAC users: Google Chrome Review - And this is it - all blogosphere is now talking about new Google Chrome browser. Want to know something more ?? 1 Floats.
• Complete Google Chrome Review - Google Chrome is now available for download. Rumors have been floating around for a while about Google making its own web browser. Google Chrome is Google’s entrant into the browser wars. Chrome’s about window. Chrome’s about window …
• Google Chrome: A Review of the Newest Browser on the Block - I know that Google has been a supporter of Firefox for a while now. So when they released their own browser, which you can download here, I was surprised. Aside from being surprised, I was initially worried too. …
• Google Chrome Review… - Google Chrome… I dig it, but it needs work. I guess Google’s “out” is that Chrome was released as Beta. It kind of bothers me that *everything* Google releases is Beta. Has Google ever finished a product? …
• Another Google Chrome review - There will probably be a slew of blogs in coming days about Google’s new Internet browser, ‘Chrome’. I’ve been fiddling with it for a bit and rather like it so far. Google used a ’start again’ approach, keeping in mind the demands of …
• Google Chrome - Review - Let’s have a look at Google Chrome now shall we? The download is under 1MB. Small compared to the 7MB Firefox, and a minuscule bit of dust in comparison to the epic 100MB+ of Internet Explorer upgrades. …
• DevCentral Top5 9/5/08 - Google Chrome - Review. http://devcentral.f5.com/weblogs/Joe/archive/2008/09/02/google-chrome—review.aspx. Joe’s second review of the week is a big one. The much anticipated Google Chrome has had quite a buzz in the IT community this …
• Google Chrome review - Despite some beta issues, Google’s streamlined and speedy Google Chrome web browser offers strong integrated search and an intriguing alternative to Firefox and Internet Explorer. Google takes aim squarely at Microsoft with the release …
• Google Chrome Review - I have now been using Chrome for almost 12hrs I have some very great things to say about it, but there are also small bugs to report. First off I must say I love the look, simple, gives me plenty of viewing space even on lower …
• How to Set Google Chrome as Your Default Browser in Windows XP … - If you’re looking for reviews of the browser, check here: Awesome Google Chrome Review, Summary of Google Chrome Reviews at UK Telegraph (includes TechCrunch, Walt Mossberg, CNET, Gizmodo reviews and more), andGoogle Chrome Review from …

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Reviews

Welcome back for part 2 of our in-depth Google Chrome Review.  For this installment, we’ll be looking at setup and configuration of Google Chrome. If you missed part 1, click here to read it now.

Options

The Google Chrome “Options” panel is pretty simple, with only 3 tabs and a minimum of choices. Compared to IE’s 7 tabs with tons of options on each, or Firefox’s 7 preference sections + about:config, this is either blissful simplicity or a complete lack of functionality, depending on your perspective.

Basic

The basic options are, well, pretty basic.

The startup options let you choose between:

• Opening the home page - This opens the the same page you get when creating a new tab, which features the summary of your nine most visited pages, your bookmark bar, your favorite search choices, and your recent bookmarks.
• Restoring your previous session - This is my default choice.  It works pretty much like Firefox does under this setting, although the lack of a “you’re about to close 20 tabs, are you sure” is a bit annoying. This will bite me when I have two windows open with 20 tabs in each.. I’m sure of it.For anyone who doesn’t have Firefox set up this way, Firefox doesn’t normally give you the “you’re about to close XX tabs” message when set to save tabs from one session to the next.  However, it DOES give you the message if you have two windows open with multiple tabs and go to close the first of them, effectively destroying all of those tabs.  It’s a nice feature and something I’ve come to depend on during my tabfests.
• Open the following pages - This seems useful for those that like the same pages all the time. But, I’ve had one collegue switch back to IE7 (I didn’t say he was a smart collegue!) because of the way this feature works.  Apparently he’d like “Home” to switch all of his first X tabs back to this configuration.  I didn’t even know this was something IE does, but it appears that’s the way he has it set up.

Home page options are pretty standard.

I guess it’s kind of cool that one of Google’s few choices is to change the default search. I’m not sure if that’s them not being evil or just trying to look like they’re not being evil, but I dig it.  The list of choices is pretty short though.

Of course they have the “default browser” choice. I appreciate that they didn’t bug me with this choice right away when I started up.

Minor Tweaks

Wow, what appears at first to be a pretty simple tab of the interface and not even worth talking about turns out to be a bit of a nightmare.

Seriously, when I saw this, I immediately did a search for “google chrome major security flaw.” It turns out one had already been reported related to Webkit, but I haven’t seen this particular problem mentioned.

If you haven’t checked out the “Show saved passwords” button yet, click it. Then, click one of your accounts and click the “Show password” button.  There it is, in all it’s plain text glory. Your password. For your super-psycho girlfriend to grab. While you go to the crapper. Yeah, that’s bad.

It’s funny, yesterday I was trying to figure out a keyboard shortcut for the “save password” button, but now I’m thinking I don’t need that button.  There doesn’t seem to be any way to turn off this functionality or password protect the option, which means you better be super-consistent about locking your computer with that psycho-chick around.  Seriously.

On this tab, you can also tweak the fonts and languages.  You might want to switch to Swahili so your passwords are harder to decipher.

Under the Hood

There really isn’t a lot here for what seems to be the “advanced” tab.

You can clear out auto-open filetype associations, but you can’t view what they are - it’s an all-or-nothing thing.

You can send all of your info to Google. Like they don’t already know you like cowboy midget porn.

You can change proxy settings (which just opens the windows internet control panel).

I have no clue whatsoever what the “Show suggestions for navigation erros” checkbox does. I turned it off and tried to make all the errors I could think of, but they just got routed to search and ended up finding me what I needed.

DNS pre-fetching looks pretty cool, and might be part of why Google Chrome feels fast. It basically does all of the DNS lookups as soon as possible after loading a page, so chances are a link will have it’s DNS cached by the time you click it. Although an “about:dns” only shows it being beneficial for 9 hostnames, while doing no good for another 109.  Still, that’s a nice little boost on those 9 domains.

The security stuff seems pretty standard and isn’t all that intersting, especially considering the browser is already giving away all of my passwords any time I walk away.

Extras

There are some cool extra commands hiding in the command line:

• about: - basically the About box in HTML form, not so useful
• about:dns - shows you the DNS pre-fetching success rate and some other stats.  Makes me feel smart to read.
• about:plugins - info on all of your installed plugins
• about:memory - not only shows the memory usage of Chrome in each tab it has open and process it is using, but it also shows you a comparison between Chrome’s memory usage and IE, Firefox, Opera, and Safari if they’re open.
• view-cache:[URL] - appears to be the browsers cache of URL … in hex.
• view-source:[URL] - I don’t see myself using this shortcut too often (I usually load a page before wanting to see the source), but who knows.

Extensions

Zip. Zilch. Nada.

I need del.icio.us, soon please!

At least they used the word “currently.”

That does it for part 2. Check back soon for part 3, where we get into the features and usage of the browser in detail.

<< Part 1

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Review

They just keep coming…

• Google Chrome Web Browser - Despite some beta issues, Google’s streamlined and speedy browser offers strong integrated search and an intriguing alternative to Firefox and Internet Explorer …

• Google Chrome Review - Before i start, let me just say that the only browsers i use are firefox (THE Browser) and IE (just to check if the pages that i develop appear correctly and work). So, in advance, i’m sorry if i point some feature in google Chrome that …

• Google Chrome Review - I’ve been using it all of maybe an hour…. and so far I love it! As far as innovation goes, it’s not hugely innovative. In terms of funky features, I really like the “most visited sites” page when you open a new tab. …

• Beta Sniper: Google Chrome Review - Google Chrome is the new browser from, uh, Google. It is the search behemoths take on the frontier mostly dominated by Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox. Till august, according to Browser Statistics, IE had 50.6%, Firefox had 43.7%, …

• Vikram Lakhotia » Blog Archive » Top 10 Issues and things to … - Now that the dust has settled and millions have downloaded Google Chrome Browser, the search giant must remain vigilant as issues are bound to surface (something they highlighted in their now legendary comic book). We’ve yet to go past the first 24 hours since Google open the floodgates but yet there are some issues both in terms of usability and compatibility that have appeared; we’ve compiled a list of 10 of the most important ones. Some might not like Chrome’s sqeaky clean, extremely minimalist interface which gets rid not only of the familiar menus and toolbars you can expect on other browsers but also the status bar (which now pops up now and then); in effect, Chrome ressembles a full screen version of Firefox or Internet Explorer.

• JR’s Google Chrome Review - The Google Made browser, Chrome has only been out since last night, but I been testing as hard as possible to see if this a good alternative to firefox. Out of the box this browser sports some really impressive features, and one of its …

• Google Chrome Review - Internet Marketing enthusiast Steve Hutera from Minneapolis downloaded the Google Chrome Browser today. According to Steve: “I thought it was seamless, easy to use. It had six thumbnails for the top visited websites. …

• Google Chrome Review - Yesterday I downloaded the official release of Google Chrome (BETA). I didn’t quite know what to expect at first, as I’ve actually heard very little about this new web browser. I gave it a try yesterday and and on some machines at home …

• And here comes Google Chrome (the minimal browser?) - Google Chrome was released overnight (for those of us in my country). And what an offering…

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Reviews

Welcome to our in-depth review of Google Chrome.  In Part 1, we’ll cover installation and startup.

Installation

Download and installation of Google Chrome was a snap.  It took less than two minutes from the time I downloaded until the browser was up and running.  Note that I am running most of my testing inside a VirtualBox Windows XP virtual machine, so there weren’t any bookmarks, history, etc. to import.  I have seen reports that it can take longer with a large history, but my other install on a physical Windows Vista box did not seem to indicate any delays.

Start up

Start up is nearly instantaneous.  The initial install opens two tabs.  The first (pictured above) is the adaptive Google home page.  This is the page that will pop up any time you go home, or when you open a new tab.

Initially, I didn’t think I’d really like this adaptive page very much.  For me, the jury is still out.  It was kind of cool to see my frequent and recent pages in thumbnails after using the browser for a while (minus the privacy implications!).  The recently closed tabs and various search features also may be useful, but once I memorize some of the cool keyboard shortcuts I doubt they’ll be useful.  So far my experience has been that I don’t mind this page, but I don’t really use it much either.

The other start-up tab that Google Chrome opens is a “Welcome to Google Chrome” page.  The very limited set of features Google chose to cover on this page is interesting:

• One box for everything - this is an incredibly cool feature.  Basically, what would usually be the URL box in previous browsers is a fully adaptive search box that attempts to guess what you want to do.  After using it for most of the afternoon, back in Firefox I find myself starting to type all sorts of nonsense on the URL line.  I’ll touch on this later, but I definitely see why Google included it here.
• New Tab page - I guess they’re pretty proud of this homepage. I covered that a bit above, but I find it interesting that they’re calling it the “new tab page” rather than the “home page.”
• Application shortcuts - this one I don’t really get yet. I understand the whole browser as OS thing and I’m totally down with it.  I just don’t get how it’s more efficient to hide the forward and back buttons and the rest of the browser chrome (ha).  For me, this is a “who cares?” - it’s something I stopped doing with javascript at least 5 or 6 years ago, and don’t really care to see again. Yeah, I created a shortcut to Gmail to see if I was missing something.  If I was, I couldn’t figure out what it is (but feel free to let me know in the comments!).

First Problem

When I installed Google Chrome on my main Vista desktop, it picked up all of my Firefox plugins fine - Flash and others “just worked.”

When I went to install Adobe Flash on my testing (virtual) machine, it didn’t pick up Flash, presumably because I don’t have Firefox on that VM.  I downloaded and installed and … nothing happened.  No workie.

It took me a couple of install retries to guess that I needed to close and restart Google Chrome to get Flash working.  This wasn’t too big of a deal for me, but it was definitely the sort of thing that would result in a panicked tech-support call from my mom.

That’s it for part 1 of our in-depth Google Chrome review.  In part 2, we cover settings and configuration.

Part 2 >>

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Review

An amazing response all over the web.  I’ve been using it since launch at noon and am working on a review now.  In the meantime, here are some more impressions.

• Google Chrome Review - I have downloaded and installed Google Chrome install time with slow internet conection and power failure. 15 minutes. My power failed for about one minute 2 minutes after starting the install app the app handled the lose of interent …

• Google Chrome Review - First impressions - Google Chrome - Fast, effectint, intuitive Google’s new browser, I wanted to be one of the first to review it too. …

• Google Chrome Review - Google Chrome Review by the Rich Sage: Part One. This is a two-part review of the Google Chrome Browser. September 1St marked a historic day in that Google announced the release of their Chrome Browser -what’s defined as an open-source, …

• Google Chrome Review - After refreshing the page for Google Chrome many many times, I finally got something other than a redirect to Google’s homepage. Chrome Homepage. After being excited about this since reading the comic yesterday, and in disbelief that …

• Quick Google Chrome Review - Refreshing. Like most things new. Fast. Faster than Firefox on most websites without flash ads. Theme is similar to Google Talk and Google Docs. Opening & closing a tab takes longer than what I’m used to. …

• Google Chrome Review - Google Chrome is available for download. Like everyone, with a lot of curiosity, I download and installed. It took roughly 2 minutes to install the browser. It is done. In first five minutes I found the following. …

• Google’s Chrome Browser What You Need to Know - Google’s Chrome Browser is not only real, it’s almost available to users for download. According to the Google Blog Chrome will become available for download tomorrow morning in more than 100 countries. The Beta launch of Chrome was announced in an official blog post called A fresh take on the browser.

• aaaproxy » Blog Archive » google chrome review - Google Chrome Review by the Rich Sage: Part One. This is a two-part review of the Google Chrome Browser. Seeing how I haven’t installed any beta software lately (yeah right), I figured I jump in with everyone else on the net and see what’s up with Google’s new entry in the browser market.

• Google Chrome Review: first impressions not good - Well I have been waiting since yesterday to get my hands on Google Chrome, the search engine giant’s open source web browser. So I downloaded it from Google and then installed the software, and then decided to give Chrome a go. …

• Initial Google Chrome Review - I listened to the announcement of Google Chrome this afternoon and also flipped through the comic book that Google released yesterday. My initial reaction was that Chrome is going to be just another browser that I’d need to support. …

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Reviews

Wow, the web is blowing up… so far so good for Google:

• First Google Chrome Review - This is my first review of Google Chrome, the internet’s newest browser. Google has set out to hit Microsoft where it hurts and not let Microsoft pull any stunts with internet explorer stealing any of the search engine market through …

• Google Chrome Review - So, I’ve had Google Chrome for all of 20 minutes, and I’ve put it through its first paces. So far I’m impressed by some features while others have left a question mark. My first click-through I guess you could call it has left me …

• Google Chrome Review - I have downloaded and installed Google Chrome install time with slow internet conection and power failure. 15 minutes. My power failed for about one minute 2 minutes after starting the install app the app handled the lose of interent …

• Google Chrome Review - googlechromelogo.jpg. Today Google launched a new web browser, Chrome. I’ve been using it for half an hour. What’s really got me excited is my main using for need for Firefox specifically is bookmark organization. …

• Google Chrome Review - Google Chrome Review by the Rich Sage: Part One. This is a two-part review of the Google Chrome Browser. September 1St marked a historic day in that Google announced the release of their Chrome Browser -what’s defined as an open-source, …

• Google Chrome Review - I will give a Google Chrome internet browser review within a day or two. Let us know what you feel of the Google Chrome download.

• Download Google Chrome Internet Browser NOW - Google had launched their internet browser today. It is live and you can get the Google Chrome here. Tell us what you think of it. I will give you a Google Chrome review here on moremerchant.com I already hve the browser and am already …

• Google Chrome Review - Google’s chrome hit the web just before 1900UTC today… The first page you’re greeted with is a home page is a list of your most visited links with thumbnail screenshots of them. I haven’t used Opera in years but I think this is an …

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Review

Install - the download and install was incredibly quick, and very painless.  I was up and running in under a minute.

Wow, Google Chrome is incredibly fast, especially on javascript sites.  Complicated javascript pages like my analytics dashboards load much quicker in Chrome than in Firefox or IE.

The UI is very nice.  It’s incredibly simple and generally stays out of my way.  I tend to keep my toolbars to a minimum anyway and turn them off when not in use, but this is even more minimalistic than my normal Firefox install.

My number one new feature - dragging a tab in and out of the interface.  I’ve been wishing for this feature in Firefox for a long time now.  It works perfectly and is very intuitive.

I also really like the status bar - you don’t need to have the status bar turned on to see where a link is going to go.  It just appears when necessary.

The “most visited” homepage looks quite nice. This feature didn’t look to me like it would be a great one, but it’s already growing on me.

Overall, first impressions are VERY positive. I love Firefox, and am already considering a primary browser change.

Stay tuned, we should have a full review up for Google Chrome later today, after really putting it through it’s paces.

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Review

Downloading it now, the download link is live:

DOWNLOAD LINK:

http://www.google.com/chrome

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome Download