Chrome or Plastic ?

Chrome which is Google's answer to an Internet browser has arrived recently. And being in the csv business it is something which has to be tested.

To start with the most impotant thing -

• Does it handle username/passwords directly in the URL ?
  YES IT DOES, without any tweaking needed.
  
  
• Is it easy to clear bwowser data and information ?
  Yes it is.
  
  
• Does it render the webpages fast ?
  YES!, extremely fast. Faster than anything else out there.
  
  
• Does it handle downloads in a brilliant way, like Firefox ?
  No. Firefox is by far much better handling and overviewing multiple downloads.
  
  
• Is it a porn browser with all safety and privacy needed ?
  No. Absolutely not, it will show the most visited pages immediately when it starts unless you specifically use the Incognito Mode actively.

If the above bullets are enough for you to decide wether or not to use Google Chrome then you're fit to go. If you need a bit more information then read on.

Click to enlarge

Look'n'feel

The look and feel of the browser is good, some of the best I have seen around. The webpage area is simply larger due to the face that the title bar of the window is now gone. Furthermore the rendering engine in Chrome is extremely fast. Way faster than Firefox or Opera (I will not mention IE, because IE is the absolutely slowest at the rendering part). The interface is nice and intuitive, all your most visited pages are placed right to your disposal when you start the browser - no need to find a Favourites or click a button like with IE and FF. The bookmarks are also displayed right at the starting page so everything you need is right where it should always have been and better. Menus are light and intuitive. There are far less configuration options than present in IE or FF, wether or not this is a good thing depends on the kind of internet user you are.

The downside of the ultra fast web page display is that clickable areas, ie. pictures, direct links etc. are not clickable right away. Now right away means that you should be able to click any link before the page has finished rendering. That is not possible with Chrome. On a large gallery page with 360+ pictures and a ton of direct links like MET or ONTE then you will have to wait slightly before everything becomes clickable in the right places.

Chrome also has minor problems displaying VG like it is suppose to look. Chrome tends to enlarge portions of the webpage repeatedly.

Conclusion

Is Chrome your new porn browser ? And the answer is NO. So what is for? Well, the current target Chrome user seems to be my mother and other people who wants and good and nice looking browser which does the mainstream job of browsing and reading. With the upcoming porn-mode of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 (call InPrivate) and the ditto feature in the next Firefox then it would seem that these two still are the best candidates for the job, although we still have to actively see if InPrivate and Firefox's counterpart is better than Chrome's Incognito Mode. And with Firefox's dTA plugin then IE is left behind in the dust.

Challenger: Google Chrome ( http://www.google.com/chrome/ )

Defender: Mozilla Firefox ( http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/firefox/ )

Winner: Mozilla Firefox

InPrivate: The InPrivate option of Internet Explorer 8–quickly dubbed “porn mode” because it also hides one’s illicit browsing history–prevents computers from tracking your online whereabouts or browsing habits, which is much-needed information for web sites that deliver targeted advertising.