However, it's still not completely stable. Don't use Chrome to book flights or any other activities that you can't afford to fail, and don't expect your IT department to support it anytime soon.
Furthermore, plug-ins and extensions are vital to make Chrome a success, and this browser is still too new to have a large third party following.
I look forward to the next Chrome release.
- Multi threaded processing makes Web pages load quickly
- Sandboxed tabs prevent hanging websites from crashing the browser
- Open source project
- Minimalist interface design
- Thumbnails of frequently visited pages
- Windows only
- Installation problems
- Bugs and crashes
- CSS dislplay issues
- Not supported by all Web applications
- Type either URLs or search queries in the Omnibox. There is no separate search box and address bar.
- Chrome uses multi-threading, so if a Web page crashes, it only crashes that tab, not the entire Web browser.
- Chrome blocks pop-ups by putting them all on the bottom of the screen and letting you click on any you want to launch.
- Although Chrome supports plug-ins, it's too new, as of this writing, to actually offer much.
- Phishing protection is built in to Chrome, but don't assume that every website is safe.
Omnibox
Rather than typing search queries in the left box and URLs in the address bar, everything is typed into the address bar. Type in "amazon" for instance, and you'll immediately go to Amazon.com. Type in "amazon fishing" and you'll see search results for that phrase. Chrome also auto-suggests items as you type.
Speed
Chrome really does crunch through pages at high speed. I tried some sites that normally would tax my browser, and I had no problems. Chrome does this with efficient memory use and multi-threading (loading more than one page or element at the same time.)
Tabbed Browsing
Chrome uses tabbed browsing, but each tab is "sandboxed," meaning what you do in one tab won't affect what happens in other tabs, so a hanging website doesn't crash your browser. There's even a frowning faced browser icon that appears when a window crashes.
Chrome isn't married to the tab, however. If you want to open a page in a window instead of a tab, all you need to do is drag the tab down. This is a very nice touch.
Incognito
If you have a need to bypass search history and cookies, (ahem) Google has an incognito mode. Windows open in the incognito mode will show a figure in a trench coat to let you know they're private. Don't mistake this for security. You can still download malicious software while browsing incognito.
Quirks
Chrome was launched a little ahead of schedule, and it shows. It took me two computers and three tries to successfully install Chrome. I've also had issues with intermittent audio on videos and with odd text display when filling out Web forms or using auto spell check.
