Google Chrome

[doug reich]

Has anyone else downloaded it? (Google Chrome - Download a new browser (http://www.google.com/chrome) and Google Chrome (http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/))

It seems pretty fast to me in comparison to Firefox 3, although I think it's psychological (all at once vs. as the elements get done). (I like to think the my plugins on FF3 speed it up, but maybe they slow it down...) However, I have 3 tabs open, and they're already using 95 MB of RAM (WSJ.com, Gmail, Quantnet). For comparison, firefox with those same 3 tabs open uses 87 MB.

We'll see about performance comparisons, I'm sure that people all over the web (e.g. http://arstechnica.com/index.ars) are already firing up their test platforms...

[maxrum]

I installed it this afternoon. Surprisingly, it couldn't run some of our Java applets. I hope they will fix it soon. Otherwise, I look forward to using better browser in a future.

[Sanket Patel]

I'm waiting for Linux version of Chrome. Although, as with most Google products, a Linux version won't be out until Chrome leaves the Beta stage.

I did, however, watch the videos Google posted and I'm especially fond of tab with most visited sites, history, bookmarks, recently closed tabs and such. And of course, the ability to convert a tab into a new window then return it back to a tab.

[Shlomi]

Google published a beta version for their new browser, the Google Chrome.
Great minimalistic design, works faster than other browsers, and very nice and easy to use.

Have fun...

http://www.google.com/chrome/

[alain]

works faster than other browsers

is this true? have you test it? could you post some benchmarks or links to benchmarks? BTW, there is no Linux version yet :(

[alain]

a benchmark:

http://limi.net/articles/google-chrome-benchmarks-and-more

[Andy]

Oh, snaps, another browser.
The list of new features from this NYT article seems pretty cool
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/technology/personaltech/03pogue.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

[dstefan]

Chrome is quite smart and very natural to use!!!

[Eugene Krel]

There is one big negative to chrome that will probably be fixed soon: lack of an ad blocking plugin.

Other than that it's quite nice (I am a big minimalistic approach fan).

[doug reich]

lack of an ad blocking plugin.

Not so much google's style, but I could see them trying to subvert such a thing. After all, their revenue is almost completely derived from ads.

[Eugene Krel]

Well their ads are the text ads, which I don't mind that much. What bothers me are the obnoxious flash ads, especially the ones that pop up to fill your whole screen and force you to close them manually because they are not technically a pop-up.

[dstefan]

the only pop-up that tried to appear on the pages I was browsing was blocked automatically by Chrome. (only one pop-up?! there are no pop-ups on QuantNet, which is what I browse most often :))

[Shlomi]

Chrome also blocked all the pop-ups that appeared while I was browsing...

[Andy]

All I can say to Eugene is to stop visiting those websites.
I installed Chrome last night and in the process, uninstalled Opera. Now I alternate between Firefox and Chrome.
I like it very much so far (more screen real estate with this minimalist approach). Since it is open source, there will be ton of add-in for this browser, just like with Firefox.

[Eugene Krel]

The pop-ups I am talking about are the flash ads that appear on a news site as an article loads. Regular pop-ups havent been a problem in ages.

Eventually chrome will probably replace firefox for me.

[Andy]

The kind of counting down ads still there ZDNet: Tech News, Blogs and White Papers for IT Professionals (http://www.zdnet.com)
Bloomberg usually has this but now they are gone. http://www.bloomberg.com
I haven't come across anything with a flash pop-up yet.

[maxrum]

Google said Wednesday it would dump one section of the end-user licensing agreement that gave the company "a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through" the new browser.



In addition to the perpetual copyright granted to Google in section 11, the license allowed the company to "make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services."



In other words, by posting anything (via Chrome) to your blog(s), any forum, video site, myspace, itunes, or any other site that might happen to be supporting you, Google can use your work without paying you a dime. It applies to everything you pass through Chrome. Google can take your submitted content and edit and reuse it all they want, as long as they do so in connection with Chrome.



PC World - Business Center: Google Amends Chrome License Agreement After Objections (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/150637/google_amends_chrome_license_agreement_after_objections.html)

[doug reich]

Do many people have leeway to install this software on the office computers?

The reason I ask is that my colleagues and I tend to agree that there is IE and then there is everything else. That is there are three types of people in the browser wars: there's the people who can't install (office workers) or won't install (the people who just go to the "e") new software, and third there are the technophiles who are going to switch browsers when they feel like it. Therefore, Chrome is bad news for Firefox, and probably OK to good news for IE: it will steal users from the competition without harming IE any more than Firefox will (given the block of people who simply won't install a browser on their own).

[timothy k]

Chrome's features may be too smart for our liking.

As for Chrome's powerful Omnibox, the intelligent location bar at the top of the browser that lets you type in URLs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL) or search terms, data collection is still actively taking place. Anything typed into the box -- even if the enter key isn't struck -- could potentially be logged with the user's Internet protocol address, Google spokesperson Carolyn Penner told TechNewsWorld.

E-Commerce News: Privacy: Heads Up: Chrome's Omnibox May Record What You Type (http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Heads-Up-Chromes-Omnibox-May-Record-What-You-Type-64387.html?wlc=1220567307)

[sugi]

I installed Chrome yesterday night and played around 30mins before sleeping. I found it was pretty fast, cool, and minimalist. I liked it. But couldn't retrieve the online rates as the Java plugins not yet installed. Any idea how to install the plugins? sorry, haven't explored much. ;)

[Yuriy]

I like it so far, it feels better than FireFox but not as great as IE.
I have noticed that it has Vista look even on my XP, so I have to get used to having that small title bar in Chrome vs. all others in XP :)

[doug reich]

Firefox doesn't sit idly by... many of the features touted by Chrome, including seams tab dragging and fast Javascript are coming to a browser near you: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080905-first-look-firefox-3-1-alpha-2-officially-released.html

[Andy]

To use the Quantnet IRC Chat in Chrome, you have to install the Java applet. It's a pretty painless using the web installation
http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/chrome.xml