New Browser on the Scene

As if there weren't already enough Web browsers to choose from - and as if Google didn't already have its paws wrapped tightly around our computing lives...along comes Google with its very own new Web browser, Google Chrome.

Of course, the tin-foil hat types are already going on and on about how this new browser, in its first beta release, is in truth an insidious effort to wreck everybody's privacy and show you more ads. After all, if Google can not only keep a history of your search habits, but also control the browser you use to interface with the Web, doesn't that give them an inordinate amount of power over your privacy and personal life? One example I heard was "What would a health insurance company pay, secretly or otherwise, to know that your last sit-down in front of Google included searches on "cancer diagnosis," "hospice care," "writing a will," and "terminal illness" ? The other question that comes up is: Will Chrome support ad-blocking plug-ins, considering that Google's business is serving up ads in the first places?

All those issues aside, what about Chrome as a piece of software? Well, it's early yet, but from what I've been able to glean from limited testing, it's very fast. The installer is lightweight, making for a quick download. Chrome launches quickly, and it loads pages in a VERY sporty manner. Now, it's hard to say how much of this speediness is because there aren't plug-ins loaded (yet). And it's a "virgin" install. A lot of software seems fast at first, only to bog down over time.

Its interface manages to be clean and simple, yet this browser offers most of the major features you've come to expect from a browser, such as tabbed browsing. Its full screen mode is nice. I read somewhere that Chrome will support running Web applications (a fancy term for "web pages that perform some function versus just providing reading material - a mortgage calculator tool, for example) in a browserless environment. Meaning, web apps will run in their own windows like standalone programs, not Web pages with all the web browser buttons and so forth.

It also has excellent, searchable history tracking. For those who forget to make bookmarks when they find something worth remembering on the Web, this should help. And I really like how the opening screen shows you large, full-color thumbnails of your most-visited Web pages. And, of course, the address bar can take either a web address or - surprise - keywords for a Google search.



Incognito is another major feature, which lets you browse in a "privacy" mode that does NOT keep track of what you've searched for or where you've been. Some have jokingly referred to this feature in Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer 8 browser as "porn mode." Finally, it does some sort of auto-complete guessing when you start to type a URL, but I'm not sure what that's about just yet.

Of course, reviewers in the computing industry are all over the place. Some say this signals the beginning of the end for Google, others say it's a brilliant stroke. Either way, it'll be fun to play with and interesting to watch what happens. I feel bad for Web developers, though, who now have yet another browser to test against.

Mac users will have to hold out a little longer; at the moment, Google Chrome is only available for Windows XP and Vista.

More info:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080902-hands-on-with-chrome-googles-browser-shines-mostly.html

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9878

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_chrome

Firefox 3

I've recommended the Firefox web browser (available for Mac and Windows) to a lot of people. After spending about a week using this latest, greatest version 3, I can tell you that it's an even easier recommendation to make. Why's that, you ask?

First, it's definitely more responsive, and tests show that it has a lower memory footprint. That means it uses less RAM for the same tasks, freeing up memory for your other (more, ahem, RAM-hogging) applications. As somebody who opens a lot of tabs, whatever improvements they made to keep the browser from slowing down with lots of tabs is most welcome.

Second, there are lots of little tweaks and additions geared towards making your web browsing life more enjoyable and productive. For example, the Bookmarks toolbar gives you a "Most Visited" option, the usefulness of which should be apparent. There's also a "recently bookmarked" feature that comes in handy. In fact, the whole Bookmarks area has been overhauled, so check it out.

The "Awesome Bar" is nice too. Here's how Firefox describes it:

"The Awesome Bar is the affectionate name for the new Firefox 3 Smart Location Bar. The new location bar learns as you use it, adapting to your preferences and making your browsing more personal. When you type in text, the auto-complete function displays possible matching sites from your browsing history, bookmarks, and tags. This makes it easy to scan the list and quickly identify the site you want to visit. Our beta testers started calling it the Awesome Bar and the name stuck!"

I also really like the "identity" notifier, which shows up to the left of your location bar. It's very helpful for identifying secure sites - much more so than the old-school, wee-little lock hidden down at the bottom of the screen almost like an afterthought on older versions. Anyways, you can hover over this area (shown below - the green area on the left) and get useful info about the site you're visiting.

I haven't even looked into the security improvements, but supposedly it's more impervious to malware than previous versions or other browsers.

On Windows, Firefox 3 will replace your version 2 - so if you're the sort with a lot of Firefox 2.0 plug-ins you just can't live without, check to see if your plug in providers have upgraded to support 3 yet. Otherwise, hold off. On the Mac, the new and old version can coexist provided you rename the old version to "Firefox 2."

The FF people were hoping for a million downloads on "opening day," knowing that a LOT of people were looking forward to this release. They far surpassed it. Eight million Web users can't be wrong, so give it a try yourself.