Google Chrome - More than just Shiny!

Recently in class, during our install of Server 2008, our instructor mentioned that we should install an alternate browser on our 2008's, because for reasons unknown to me Server 2008's version of Internet Explorer is virtually unusable. He specifically mentioned Firefox and Google Chrome. I have long been a Firefox addict (I love the extensions!) and also a Google fan (very innovative company, quality products), but had not as yet tried Google Chrome, the new browser they had developed. So I decided to give it a try.

Our instructor wasn't sure that Google Chrome would even install on our new Server 2008 virtual machines, but it worked just fine for me. Being used to Firefox's layout, my first response to the browser was, "whoa, the tabs are at the top!". It's not really a very chrome-looking interface, but it is clean and minimalistic, which I can appreciate.

Since I didn't really know anything about Chrome or what set it apart from other browsers, I read this comic that I found on the Chrome introduction page. It is very informative, easy to read and understand, and a bit entertaining as well. I recommend spending the time to read it if you have ever wondered how Chrome works.

After seeing how Chrome performed on Server 2008, I thought I would put it through some more rigorous testing at home. I installed it, and then began abusing it as much as I do Firefox. It took everything I threw at it, and I was delighted to discover that it had some functionality that is fairly close to one of my favorite Firefox addons, QuickDrag. QuickDrag allows you to highlight a plaintext URL and drag and drop it on the page to open a new tab of the address you highlighted. Chrome allows you to select a plaintext URL and drag it to the tab bar to do the same thing. The only difference in the functionality that I used was that I had to drag it farther.

Being new, Chrome does still crash sometimes. Bugs still exist. But due to the way Chrome is built, one thing going wrong won't kill the whole browser - only the part where the error occurred. If you read the comic I mentioned earlier, you will understand how this works. Sometimes Windows would pop up saying Chrome had crashed, I would click End Program, and Chrome would continue on as it had been, seemingly unaffected by the crash. In essence, it does what Google says it does.

When I first heard about Chrome being a Java executable, I was quite apprehensive. All of my previous interactions with Java had left me feeling that it was a slow, clunky language that was only useful for extreme portability. However, the way Chrome has been intelligently designed, it actually runs very smoothly and hesitates not at all.

All in all, I was very impressed with Chrome, and I think it safe to say that my Firefoxing days are pretty much over.