Chrome: Shiny New Browser, Or--?

[Dodi Schultz]

Has anyone here tried Google's new browser, Chrome?

It's the subject of a largely complimentary piece ("Google Builds a Better Browser," by Peter Ha) in the current (January 11) issue of Time.

Ha says a beta version for Win has been around for a year, and Mac and Linux versions were out last month. It's now the #3 browser, after IE and Firefox.

Comments, anyone?

--DS

[davidh]

Has anyone here tried Google's new browser, Chrome?

It's the subject of a largely complimentary piece ("Google Builds a Better Browser," by Peter Ha) in the current (January 11) issue of Time.

Ha says a beta version for Win has been around for a year, and Mac and Linux versions were out last month. It's now the #3 browser, after IE and Firefox.

Comments, anyone?

--DSI tried it. Worked ok.

Don't think I tried latest release. Supposedly has a highly optimized handler of javascript, for performance. Yahoo and Google mail, for example, rely heavily on javascript, unless you use the lower capability HTML-only web mail.

I use several extensions (add ons) in Firefox. So I probably would not use Chrome as my default browser unless it supported equivalent extensions to what I use in Firefox. (e.g. FTP, Vietnamese dictionary, Hebrew calendar, AVG Link Scanner, McAfee Siteadvisor, NoScript, etc.)

[Dodi Schultz]

Thanks, David!

I'm hoping there will be comment from folks with more ordinary operations and less exotic needs.

I'm happy with Firefox, btw--but after reading the Time piece, I'm curious about how Chrome compares for standard browsing. The article suggested that it's faster.

--DS

[sidney]

The article suggested that it's faster.

He says that independent studies show that is faster, which is not the same as saying that he found it faster to use in ordinary browsing.

Picking one set of benchmarks as an example, they go through various tests that show that Chrome is much faster than Firefox at running JavaScript and at rendering CSS, and that IE8 is a real dog compared to both of them.

But then there is the one benchmark that really is all that matters if you are only interested in ordinary browsing - The comparison of time to load a typical page. Firefox shows up as faster than Chrome, but the times to load the example, Yahoo's front page, were Firefox 1.34s, Chrome 1.45s, IE8 1.61s, Opera 1.50s, Safari 1.61s

You aren't going to notice a tenth of a second difference in a page load even if such could be measured consistently. Changes in congestion on the Internet or in the load on the server would make more of a difference than that.

Besides, for my ordinary browsing, having AdBlock Plus on so ads don't even get downloaded makes much more difference than browser speed. Chrome does not yet support extensions, so no AdBlock Plus is available on it, a deal killer for me.

[ndebord]

Has anyone here tried Google's new browser, Chrome?

It's the subject of a largely complimentary piece ("Google Builds a Better Browser," by Peter Ha) in the current (January 11) issue of Time.

Ha says a beta version for Win has been around for a year, and Mac and Linux versions were out last month. It's now the #3 browser, after IE and Firefox.

Comments, anyone?

--DS

Dodi,

I've tried it, found it lacking. I like FireFox and K-Meleon, both of which have multiple extensions, albeit arrived at with different coding and philosophy and a history of innovation.

I'll give Chrome another try, in a year or two, when it matures. <just my 2 cents>

[Judy G. Russell]

for my ordinary browsing, having AdBlock Plus on so ads don't even get downloaded makes much more difference than browser speed. Chrome does not yet support extensions, so no AdBlock Plus is available on it, a deal killer for me.Ditto for me. Without AdBlock I doubt I'd do half as much on the Internet!

[Jeff]

Ditto for me. Without AdBlock I doubt I'd do half as much on the Internet!

There is no AdBlock for IE?

- Jeff

[davidh]

There is no AdBlock for IE?

- Jeff
IE7Pro apparently has one.
http://www.ie7pro.com/ad-blocker.html

I have never tried IE7Pro.

McAfee SiteAdvisor complained about the ie7pro domain. I could not figure out why, tho'.

Apparently it also works with IE8:
Version 2.4.7 fixes status bar icon dissappeared on IE8.
http://download.cnet.com/IE7Pro/3010-12512_4-11105237.html
and can be downloaded from CNET (as just quoted).

( CNET guarantees downloads to be 'clean'. But, of course, in theory, garbage could be clean :rolleyes: Nevertheless , I have NOT heard ANYTHING bad about IE7Pro. )

[Mike]

Not to mention that issue pretty much is moot over dialup.

[Judy G. Russell]

There is no AdBlock for IE?Dunno. Never use IE when I can avoid it.