Move over Internet Explorer and Firefox, a new opponent has
entered the ring. Google has unveiled their own internet browser, dubbed Chrome,
in an attempt to leverage market share away from Microsoft.
Previously we discussed the new features in the latest upgrade of Firefox, but no one expected Google's Chrome to be released to the
public as soon as it did. There was actually a mixup in Google's marketing
department that sent a 38-page comic book promoting the new browser to European
media outlets before they planned. After the comic book quickly spread, the
next day Google sent out a press release to announce the new browser and
released a beta version to the public ahead of plan.
Reasons for Chrome
Part of the reason Google wanted to enter the web browser market is due to the
fact that they have come to rely on other web browsers to push users to their
site by building Google functionality into the browser. By having their own web
browsing software, Google could ensure that users are directed towards their
search engine instead of another. An interesting note is that even though
Microsoft has their own search engine, by default they use Google's search for
fear of more monopoly concerns.
In an even grander scope, Google is taking on Windows
itself. In the future, Google envisions
almost all applications being run right from your browser. By using open source
coding for the browser, it should make it much easier for developers to create Chrome-based
applications.
Here are some of the
cool features you'll find in Chrome:
Most Visited Pages
The first new feature you'll find is your "Most Visited Pages" window, which
automatically brings up thumbnails of the sites you frequent. This is
definitely a cool feature, but can be a bit misleading as the thumbnail shows
what the page looked like last time you visited. The preview isn't updated with any new content
unless you click on it, so don't dump your RSS aggregator yet.
Visual History
After pressing Control+H to open up your browsing history you can do a search
in your history. Results are not only displayed by date visited, but also show
a thumbnail of matching pages – which
can make finding the correct page easier if you have a lot of search results.
V8
One of the best features of Chrome is one that you probably won't even notice.
It has a new JavaScript virtual machine called V8, which compiles JavaScript
code directly into machine code instead of using an interpreter like most other
virtual machines. This will make web applications coded in Java blazingly fast.
Multiple JavaScript Processes
Chrome is the first browser to run each JavaScript program on a separate
process. By doing this, if a site you are on crashes, you won't lose whatever
you have opened in other windows or tabs. This can be a big timesaver and takes
Firefox's Restore Session feature a step further by not even ending your
session in the first place.
Task Manager
While in Chrome, press Shift+Escape to bring up Chrome's task manger; it is very
similar to the Windows Task Manager that you are used to. You can monitor each
webpage's memory and CPU usage. You can also use the task manger to close a
site that has crashed without closing all open sites.
Memory Usage
Along the lines of the task manager function, you can also type "about:memory"
into the address bar to monitor memory usage not only in Chrome but all other
open browsers as well.
Final Thoughts
Being a web developer, the biggest concern I have with Chrome, and all the
other new browsers popping up, is it can be a nightmare to code pages for. Web pages can show up differently in different
browsers, and designers must test their pages in all browsers ensure
compatibility.
Overall, I agree with most of the other reviews I've read
that weren't blown away by the new browser, but you must remember this is the
first public beta version. You can bet that improvements are forthcoming; and
knowing Google, they won't rest until they've built the most functional browser
on the planet.
Have you had a chance to test out Chrome yet? What are your
first impressions?
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