The Help Centers

Well if you’ve not heard Google has their OWN browser.  Release yesterday and I installed today (work gets in the way doesn’t it) I’ve had a few minutes time to play with it.   

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Being a techie I was very intriged by the nuts and bolts that the browser offered.  Without boring with details the browser was written secure, standards compliant and fast from the ground up.  Instead of having each browser window and tab try and wrestle for the same memory and cpu each runs on it’s own.   Much like kids in a sandbox.  Historically all the kids (browser windows and tabs) would be in the same sandbox.  If one kid threw a fit and started to throw sand around all the kids would be hit.  This would be similar to a slow JavaScript or Plugin that would cause your system and browser windows to grind to a halt.  Not so with Chrome, they gave each kid their own sandbox and while this may sound like a waste of resources the immediate performance increases are just AMAZING.  This also helps with security as a malicious website is stuck in its own box.  

To also increase the performance they built (not rewrote) the entire JavaScript engine with 2008 and not 1997 in mind.  This gave them the freedom to build a lightening fast JavaScript engine.  Site heavy with JavaScript that would ‘pause’ for a moment just POP on the screen.    

Finally there is the issue of so HOW will my website look.  Instead of reinventing one of the more complex areas of a web browser, the rendering,  they used  WebKit which is a rendering engine that Apple’s Safari web browser uses.  Standards compliant, fast and easy to impliment, this gave the developers a good base to build a browser from.  

Since Google has a lot of money and talented people they let them run with their ideas.  Pulling from the lessons learned from other browsers about security, performance, and features.  Google gears was released with the following,

• Application Links - Create shortcuts to your favorite websites applications that open without opening a whole browser. 
• Instant Bookmarking - Just click the star in the address box and your site is bookmarked.  Bookmarked sites show the star in a different color. 
• Dynamic Home Page - This shows thumbnails of your most visited sites.  Rather than guess at what you visit the most, Chrome gives you what you really use on a day to day basis.  
• Browsing Safety - Built in are constantly updated tools that will warn you of malware and phishing sites. 
• Privacy - Incognito mode creates a browsing enviroment that is completely wiped at the close of the window.  Great for holiday and birthday shopping can also help with browsing at public terminals.  As NOTHING is kept in the browser once it’s closed down. 
• Address bar - the lowly address bar, it used to be where you would type in long URL’s or even keywords or search phrases.  Keeping with the times the address bar in Chrome lets you type in addresses, search and discover.  It can suggest items from your history and related websites on the fly. 
• Tabs - yes the lowly tab so years ago.  Chrome has polished them up.  Allowing you to drag and drop them not only in the browser window but also into another browser window.  No longer do you have to have your tabs sorted and grouped willy nilly all the control is in your hand. 

Ok the above list is just a brief overview.  It’s just a browser for Pete’s sake.  Now with the Google dominance this may be just another way of captureing users.  But after all was built Google open sourced the code.  Encouraging others to ferret out bugs and create new and exciting web client applications.  

Yes there is the standard responses of it doesn’t support ad-ons and currently only for Windows,  but as this is a beta of a first version 1 (anyone remember IE, FFm Safari back when they were that young?)  it’s a definate technical contender.  WIth google’s backing it could soon consume a conciderable part of the browser market share.  

Take a spin with Google Crome it’s free, fast and may just make your day.