Google made their web browser (Chrome) available on the 2nd of September and I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and I thought that a post describing how I find it might be in order.  Chrome, released not that long after Firefox 3, has similar features to Firefox 3 but with a couple of interesting new features.  

I have been reading a lot about it on the net before I actually got onto my machine to download and install it, and I must say that I found the lifehacker blog provided some extremely interesting reading material.  The posts that I found most useful were:

The Power User’s Guide to Google Chrome
Create Separate User Profiles in Google Chrome
How to block ads in Google Chrome
Portable Chrome puts Chrome on Your Thumb Drive

If you are interested in Chrome I would definitely read the Power User’s guide, it is a really good post about the features and functions of Chrome and if like me you have to share a desktop, laptop and life, then the create separate user profiles post comes in really handy!

Initial discussion about Chrome revolved around the privacy issues. Google introduced stricter privacy policies within 24 hours of the release, most of the controversy coming from the wording in section 11 of the terms of service documents (that’s the bit you never agree to but always check the box saying accept). According to the Enquirer google got 1.7% of the market share in the first week of release but that fell to 1% after a week.  

So my opinion…?

• I like its interface, it is totally clutter free and once you learn the keyboard shortcuts it becomes even nicer to use.  It works faster than Internet Explorer (but then what browser isn’t) and in my opinion loads pages at about the same speed as Firefox3 and Safari (no noticeable difference anyway).  
• An interesting option that you can enable on Chrome, say if you are shopping for your significant others birthday present , is the incognito mode.  By pressing Ctrl + Shift + N, Chrome opens up a new browser that will save none of your personal (dubbed by some as “porn mode”).  Interestingly Mozilla is now working on this feature for future releases of Firefox, although there is a plug-in available just now for Firefox 3 called Stealther which basically does the same thing.
• Chrome also gives you the option to open several pages at once when you load it, thus allowing you to have all your sites loaded without having to type them in (lazy, moi?).
• The Opera “speed dial” interface is also a nice touch when you open a new tab.
• I like being able to drag windows out of one browser window creating another.
• The Chrome task manager is very handy, it shows you exactly what you have open and allows you to shut any tabs/pages down very easily (Ctrl + Shift is the keyboard shortcut).  Chrome runs each tab on it’s own process, therefore if one plays up it will not affect the others.
• The create shortcut application (page drop down menu) is also a handy feature for creating shortcuts to the desktop, start menu or the quick launch bar.  Simple but effective option, especially if you have a lot of web based applications that you use all day.

There has been some discussion that this is Google’s first step towards it’s own operating system, here, here, and here.  While researching this story I found this article from Geeks are Sexy – German Government tells people not to use Google Chrome.  The German Government have stated that it is unacceptable to have all internet user information with the same company…hilarious as it is good free advertising for Google!   

I guess for me, I give it the thumbs up, I cannot complain about Chrome or how it performs for me.  I am interested in how the browser develops and whether how long it will be till google cranks out an operating system…