everynerd.net

The Comic Knows All

Google Chrome first came to my attention on Monday via a Blogoscoped post linking to a comic strip that detailed the features of an upcoming web browser from Google. The comic strip, meant to be the initial ground-breaker to the public about the web browser, was created by none other than Google.

I checked the date several times to be sure it wasn’t April 1st, and even then I wasn’t fully convinced what I was reading was reality.

Nevertheless, the internet world was abuzz for a full 24 hours before Google announced a live conference to present and explain everything about the browser. I was also able to learn a few things about the browser before it was launched so I had a fairly good idea of what I was getting into.

The Skinny

Chrome uses the Webkit rendering engine that Safari and Konquerer use. One of the gentlemen during the live presentation stated that one of the reasons for using an existing rendering engine was to avoid unnecessary headaches for web developers in trying to account for a new set of rules (and it’s much appreciated, having to write for Webkit, Gecko, and IE is bad enough as it is).

Another feature to Chrome is Google Gears, which is intended to act as an advanced caching utility that will allow offline browsing of content you’ve already viewed. Essentially, it’s a super light database that Chrome manages for your viewing convenience, and the performance of Chrome greatly enhanced by this addition.

Chrome also has threaded tabs, which means that each tab is an independent browsing application of its own, and Chrome even features an in-application task manager (right click on title bar) that will allow users to manage and kill any of the running processes.  What’s important to note is that any plugins running on webpages, like YouTube’s flash module to match the example from the live presentation, can be killed independently from the window in the event the plugin fails.  What replaces the flash objects are a frowny face in a puzzle piece, and a refresh of the page will return the world to normal. It’s important to note that even if a plugin is killed, the rest of the page objects that were not apart of that process are all in working order, easily browseable.

The Fancy

Google Chrome was made for the minimalist, but it was also made for those of us who like a few sprinkles on our vanilla ice cream.

Tabs slide in creation and destruction, can be pulled away from the main frame with a fancy transparent overlay, and released as a new application window. The download process will flash an arrow to the bottom bar, show the progress and flash when finished. All downloads by default live in the My Documents/Downloads directory.

As well, clicking on the page icon and choosing “Create application shortcuts…” will allow whatever site you are on to be linked as a shortcut on your system, and when launched, will act as a new application window that appears to reside outside of a browsing format. Useful especially if your primary email happens to be webmail, and need the quick access.

The Fat

Most power users will immediately notice the lack of in-depth options. Which is to be expected, as Chrome is very much a beta product, but nevertheless there are certain things an experienced user would prefer to have control over. For instance, third party cookies can only be restricted in their use but not blocked entirely.

Another feature that is not surprisingly missing is the ability to block advertisements. Having used Adblock for what feels like a blissful eternity, seeing all of my favorite sites smattered in annoying and error-laden objects is a little disconcerting.  Third party themes and plugins should definitely high on the priority list in getting Chrome some lasting exposure.

The Verdict

Google Chrome is a very nice product in which a lot of careful thought was put into. Clearly, a new browser is on the block, but it may not be entirely for competition’s sake as it intends to be more focused making web applications a more important experience rather than just flipping through web pages. Nevertheless, a significant amount of pressure now weighs on the shoulders of both Mozilla and Microsoft to match Google’s out-of-the-box thinking on the web experience.

Currently, Google Chrome is only available for Windows, but on the horizon are forthcoming versions for both Mac and Linux operating systems.