I installed Google Chrome and took it for a trial run today. I wouldn’t call it a test drive, I need longer for that. Just a trial run to get a feel for what it’s all about.
Here are my impressions:
Installation: Quick and easy, it imports your bookmarks and settings from either IE or Firefox (select from a drop down menu). I installed it on my work PC which is running on the LAN, using a proxy, and all this was dealt with absolutely seamlessly (a lot better than FF 3.0 when I installed that a while ago).
First Impressions: A clean, minimalist UI. There’s no permanent status bar at the bottom of the screen. A neat little temporary status bar appears when you hover over a link and remains there if you click it until the page is fully loaded. Then it drops away.
There are not many options you can select in the options tab. In fact the only option I selected was to display a ‘Home’ page button on the toolbar – a bit surprising to me that this wasn’t there as a default, but I guess that’s in line with their aim of making this as clutter free as possible.
It does seem to be very fast. At least as fast as Firefox 3.
I checked all my own pages and they render the same as they do in Firefox. (In IE there are some very small differences which I’ve left as they are, since they don’t detract from the page or the message).
My bookmarks were all imported and installed on the bookmarks tool bar in the same folders and configuration that I have them in Firefox. This was a definite plus! It meant that I could continue browsing in Chrome almost without breaking stride.
Overall impression: 8/10. This is based on ease of installation and ease of use. The fact that my bookmarks were imported correctly (I have them all set up in different folders) enabling me to continue browsing smoothly was a big plus.
Visually it’s definitely minimalist. But you get more viewing area than you do with IE or FF. Everything you need is there, though, except for the ‘Home’ page button – and you can add that as an option.
Would I Use Chrome in Preference to FF Going Forwards? No. Not because of any problems I experienced (because I didn’t experience any), but because I have a lot of plugins installed in Firefox which offer me functionality that I can’t get (yet) in Chrome.
It will be very interesting to see how Google develop Chrome in the future, because it’s definitely a very strong start!
Have you tried Chrome? Leave us a comment with your thoughts!
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with you, I like Google Chrome, I’ll keep it installed, but Firefox has the plugins and toolbars that I use every day
Hey Justin,
Thanks and – yep – I’m keeping it installed too.
Cheers,
Martin.
Nice article Martin. I agree, Chrome is a very simple install and easy to use. Great for today’s online minimalist.
Eric, hi,
Good to see you again..!
Minimalist it is, definitely – but I like the fact that you get more viewing area. That’s helpful for online advertisers as it enables us to get more info above the fold!
Cheers,
Martin.
I like the extended viewing area as well. I really think they have thought through the usage of memory and computer resources very well.
I am disappointed though that they haven’t integrated their own Google Bookmarks site into the bookmarks portion of the application. Also missing are their Google Toolbar features which I personally rely on in my day to day browsing.
I am sure they have a lot more work to do and many more features to release in the near future.
See my blog post for more.
True – but it is only a beta, so hopefully they’re taking note of the feedback they’re getting and they’ll incorporate some of these items in future releases.
It will be interesting to see how far they go, though, given that they have said they want to keep it simple!
Cheers,
Martin.
Hey – I have been impressed with Chrome’s speed – it seems faster than Firefox; if you open more tabs, however, then it does slow down!
My main worry is what google is up to? My guess is to collect more info about your browsing activities and I suspect they might introduce some advertising in the browser (not the viewed pages).
Hi BG,
Thanks! Most of Google’s developments are pretty good and you cannot question their success.
But I do fear they’re becoming the Microsoft of the Internet – they’re becoming a little too pervasive for my liking! They’re into everything online – and what they don’t build they buy. Worrisome, sometimes!
Cheers,
Martin.
It fell over badly importing a large favorites database during the install in XP, but that’s been it – everything else is sweet.
Can’t say the same for FF3.01 which won’t stay upright for me at the moment – keeps crashing on form entries.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the heads up. I have to say that I prefer FF2 to FF3, but FF3 has been stable for me (so far, at least!)
Cheers,
Martin.
PC World released a list of the top 10 Google Chrome Add-ons. http://www.pcworld.com/article/185744/top_10_chrome_browser_add_ons.html
Hi there,
Thanks for this!
Cheers,
Martin.