What’s all the hype about Google Chrome?

[jmt356]

I’ve been getting advertisements for months about switching over to Google Chrome. Well today, I suddenly found it on my computer. I clicked a link and a window opened up in Chrome, not IE (is it because I downloaded Skype??).
Now that I have it, I can’t see what all the hype is about. It’s such a simple, barebones browser. There is none of the standard File, Edit, Favorites, Toolbar, etc., no favorites, etc., and I wonder: does this even support LastPass? What advantages does Chrome offer over IE?

[HansV]

See Why use Google Chrome? for more info.

Some people like the minimalistic interface, others don't.

[westerneagle]

Chrome does support LastPass

[BobH]

Chrome is over-hyped, IMO. Knowing nothing to the contrary, I would suspect that it is a Google effort to establish a platform that they can control for future product releases. I know that Microsofat does this and that Apple does, too.

My complaint against Chrome is the insidious ways in which it inveigles itself onto one's machine. I ran a software upgrade a few days ago (and I'm generally pretty observant about what I'm agreeing to) and was surprised to find my browser hijacked by chrome a few minutes later. The application upgrade had nothing to do with browsers and was not a product known to me to be one of google's. I don't like that business model. It took me a good few minutes to remove, delete, and reset options. That annoys me.

[HansV]

You should blame the company whose product you were upgrading for bundling Google Chrome with the upgrade and perhaps for not clearly presenting the choice to decline Google Chrome.

[westerneagle]

Hi Jmt

I guess like Hans said....Some people like the minimalistic interface, others don't.

I have been using Chrome for about a year or more and I like it.

Of course, I use the web gmail, google calendar, google voice, google docs, picasa, buzz, and etc etc etc.

I just like how it all goes together. There are other features (like the reading pane of hotmail and yahoo) that I wish chrome and gmail had, but I find them fast and to the point and they have just what I need and no more.

Now if google would just let me have a copy of my contacts on my computer.....

Hey, I did find a way to copy and paste pictures into my gmail (also Hotmail and Yahoo).....It is called PicturePaste. Very neat!

I will agree and I hate too when a program that I want to d/l adds 'stuff' that I don't. I have learned to watch very carefully and not to click Yes to everything too quickly. I look at every box and check mark.

[BobH]

You should blame the company whose product you were upgrading for bundling Google Chrome with the upgrade and perhaps for not clearly presenting the choice to decline Google Chrome.

Without economic incentive from google, would the company whose products I upgraded have inveigled chrome onto my system?

I blame them both, with the greater weight of blame falling on google, IMO.

[jmt356]

Is Chrome really a faster browser??

[HansV]

Chrome does pretty well in speed comparisons (Opera too).

[jmt356]

Why? Isn't speed based on my broadband connection? Isn't that independent of the browswer I'm using? Or is it becuase connecting can also be slowed down with the loading of the browswer and a lighter browswer that takes up less memory like the minimalist Chrome takes less time to load new pages?

[HansV]

The speed of loading a web page is mostly determined by your connection, but many web pages make heavy use of Javascript. Google claims that their JavaScript engine is very fast.

Also see Chrome and Speed.

[jmt356]

I think it also has to do with the amount of RAM used to run the browser. For example, if you're like me and you always open a new window, it will take longer for a computer to open a newer window of a bigger program that requires more RAM than it would for a simpler, sleeker program to do the same. Maybe that is why the bigger, bulkier IE takes longer than Google Chrome.

[tedshemyers]

You will find if you check out the IE 9 beta you will see a similar minimalistic approach as Chrome 10 beta. I presently have IE 9 beta and Chrome 10 beta on my PC and both are similar. By default IE does not have the bookmarks bar visible. If you compare them side by side you will see the similarities:

Chrome 10.png

IE 9.png

LastPass does work on both 32 Bit and 64 Bit versions of IE and on Chrome.

WOT works on 32 Bit versions only (In my example I had the 64 Bit IE opened, notice no WOT icon)

It just does appear that this minimalistic approach is catching on and that MS is taking that road as well. Both Chrome and IE 9 have increased security features. Both are quite fast loading. From my perspective, I gave up on FF a while ago because it was getting "Long in Tooth" for my tastes.

I agree that you do have to watch carefully all apps you install because many include other apps or toolbars in their installs unless you opt out (just look at Java and Adobe Flash and the extra toolbars they are pushing). This is the way of the business world. Toolbar and app developers pay to have their stuff included with other apps you might download, but there should always be an opt out method, sometimes very well hidden.

[John Gray]

There's an option in the Skype installation also to download Chrome and make it your default browser (and, I think, install the Google toolbar, if I remember correctly).

Far too much software nowadays has the option of downloading irrelevant Stuff, so you have to watch the install like a hawk and 'check out' everything that looks dubious.

Some Stuff is even more devious - like Microsoft LifeCam webcam software which has a little program (and scheduled task) which keeps on asking you to install Windows Live Messenger... Rather more difficult to prevent, since you never got an option to install/not install it in the first place.