604media blog

For a while, 604media has been keeping a close watch on the developments regarding the Google Chrome browser. Chrome was launched officially in 2008 and has slowly been building a dedicated user base. It is currently, the 3rd most popular browser (behind Internet Explorer and Firefox) according to Net Applications – (a trusted source of browser usage statistics).

One of the major items with regards to Chrome is the speed in which it renders and loads pages. To that end, Google made the following video:

What we liked:

• The speed of Chrome is nice (both load time and navigation time)
• Stability – Chrome splits your browsing tabs, so in the event of a crash, you don’t lose everything.
• New tab/history page – when you open a new tab, the sites you view the most are displayed to make your browsing experience even faster.

What we didn’t like:

• Chrome extensions – there are not enough extensions or the ones there are, don’t feel as useful/polished.
• New tab/history page is a nice touch, but it feels like there may be privacy issues there as you can close the pages manually so they don’t show, but that is only after you have opened a new tab and done so. If you left your computer on and someone else used your browser – you could be in some trouble depending on the type of content you have been “researching”.

Final thoughts:

Google Chrome feels quite polished now, from its original inception. It appears to be a good alternative to Firefox – if you are looking for an alternative that is. For the most part though, there is no real outstanding reason to switch browsers if you are happy with what you are currently using.

If you are interested in seeing how the Chrome video was made, see the following video: