Google Chrome: not faster, safer or smaller after all

Davey Winder
Thursday, 04 September 2008 16:32

Business IT - Networking

By building Chrome from the ground up, Google hopes to be able to do things its way. And it shows. The clean interface, the use of plenty of white space, the lack of clutter all make it a very Google-esque experience.

Unfortunately, for now at least, that's where the ease of use starts to slow down. Firefox has become popular largely on the back of the number of extensions that make it do whatever you want, however you want it to.

Chrome, at the moment, has a total of zero such extensions. Yes, it is open source so over time this will change, especially given the initial interest that browser has experienced, soaking up a one percent market share in the first week of release.

But for now, it has none. Which means, for now, Firefox is easier to use when you get out on the web and start actually using it.

Equally, you need to get out there and start using the sites that matter to you and seeing how the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine handles them. I found too many that simply choked with a JavaScript error.

Again, expect these dirty marks to be polished of over time and to see Chrome become nice and shiny in the usability stakes.

However, right now, Chrome is obviously a Beta product and as such has to be treated with caution. So having removed the rose-tinted spectacles we are left with a Beta browser that is not quite as fast, safe, small or easy to use as the Google spin would have us believe.

The very fact that this is Google we are talking about here means that Chrome cannot be written off, nor would I want to do that. The truth is I think that Chrome will certainly challenge Firefox for the alternative browser crown in the long term.

Whether it can topple Microsoft remains to be seen, but don't hold your breath...