I’ve wondered for the past couple of years why Google didn’t have a Web browser, and I guess now I know… they were working on it, just not talking about it. Chrome is their brand-spanking-new, just-released-yesterday browser that’s built by design for today’s Web, which is heavier on applications than when the Internet first came to power fruition.
Along with the release came a nifty little e-book, which is geared more towards other developers than to consumers. Despite this fact, it’s a fun read that gets into some of the more complex aspects of the project’s programming, while still being peppered with cute jokes and references.
The e-book was made public a bit too early, according to Google. However, they immediately jumped on board and made the comic public.
And how is the browser holding up? So far, sorta good… and sorta buggy. Not exactly a shock, the day after its release — but I was hoping to be blown away! So far I’ve experienced at least one crash that brought down the entire program, even though they intentionally designed thing such that crashes would remain isolated in the tab where the problem originated.
That, and performance has been VERY slow so far, compared to the semi-recent Firefox 3. Like painfully, get up and do something else while the tab loads slow. And this has been the case for a lot of lower-memory tabs that performed super-fast in other browsers. GAH!
Plus — and this is just a language nerd’s pet peeve — the text in almost all of the warning/message banners is cut off. Not the case for Grant, though. I’m running Windows XP Home Edition and I have a wide-screen laptop, and I don’t do any weird text magnification settings… and I don’t think I have *that* unusual of a set of circumstances. How come he gets complete, pretty-looking text and I get pre-beta-looking stuff? No fair!
Don’t get me wrong, though — Chrome is already set as my default browser, and I trust that it will only get better with time. (I did read the book, after all.) I just hope the speed thing gets resolved soon!
It’s clear that when Google walks in the room with a shiny new weapon, it’s time to perk up and pay attention. But the “Beta” stamp is real this time (unlike with Gmail) and it’s clear this browser has all the cracks (and security flaws) that come with a beta designation. For now, I’ll stick with Safari as my default, and Firefox as my dev browser. And somebody please help those who choose the digital sadness that is Internet Explorer 6-7-8.
Yeah, the BETA should be, like, bolded somehow in their logo. I’m mostly using it right now just to try it out — but I’m rarely this early an adopter of anything.
I may end up going back to Firefox entirely because of the fact that my mouse scroll button no longer opens things in a new tab. :P