Sep 03 2008
Google Chrome
Google just released an early beta of its new web browser, Chrome. Here is a screenshot of the nice, clean interface:
Some things to be aware of:
- It is currently only available for Windows. Mac and/or Linux versions are in the works.
- This is an early beta version….not everything will work perfectly.
- Be aware of the EULA before installing the software.
- You can’t keep all your Firefox plugins if you switch to Chrome (though Google will supposedly release their own API for new plugins to be created in the future).
- Since Chrome spawns separate processes for each tab that you open, it can be very memory intensive. The benefit (and reason that Google did this), is that each tab you open is isolated from the other…so in theory, one web site should not slow down your entire browsing experience. But make sure your PC has plenty of memory to support all these separate processes!
I have tried Chrome myself, and pages load VERY fast. I have not run any scientific benchmarks, though it sure seems to be MUCH faster than IE or Firefox. I also REALLY like the clean interface.
It will be interesting to see whether Chrome dies on the vine, or whether it can be a true competitor with IE, Firefox, and Safari. If Google does a good job with managing the development of Chrome, I think it has a great chance of survival.
