I was finally able to test drive a developer release for Google Chrome for Mac over the weekend, and within three minutes of using the browser, I made Chrome my default web browser.  I gladly retired my long, and tepid, association with Firefox.



Here are some gut reactions for my Google Chrome experience:

1.  Chrome knows the difference between my Gmail account and my Google Apps account.  Chrome appreciates the need for differential logins and passwords and I don’t have to “trick” Chrome into thinking I’m two different users in order to login to my separate Google accounts as I must with Firefox.

2.  Chrome, unlike Firefox, does not give me HTTPS errors when I am logged in to my Google Apps services.

3.  What?  No Google Gears support?  I don’t care if this is an early developer release, you can’t release ANY version of a Google browser without integrated Gears support.  Period!

4.  I love the Chrome Tabs and History.

5.  I hate not having my Ad Blocker under Chrome.  I suppose Google will never make it easy to remove internet advertising — but boy, oh boy — so many sites are so ugly with all those banner ads and text pitches pushing into your eye.  I miss the quiet browsing experience that Firefox offers when it comes to removing the seller tsouris.

6. I miss my “back” browser mouse gesture.  I set up a Logitech mouse button to provide the same function, but that is not as natural as merely sweeping my hand leftward.

7.  I can’t seem to get my Bookmarks managed or my Bookmarks Bar to work.  I don’t know if that’s a Google Chrome problem or an Xmarks alpha issue.  It is, however, really annoying.

8.  My life is pretty much run by Google Apps and now, having a native browser from Google to run my Google online life, is a great and seamless integration:  Everything just works better now.

9.  Google Wave is misbehaving.  I wrote two new Waves in Firefox before I made the switchover and those new Waves never appeared.  I then fired up Chrome and didn’t see those Waves anywhere.  It’s been 15 hours now and I guess those Waves — one of them was eerily entitled “Google Wave Suggestions” — are lost in the ether.

10.  As well, Google Wave is not handling labels very well.  Waves appear to come and go and the label application to a Wave is not sticking and it is not instant.  Be wary!  I don’t know if these problems are caused by Google Wave or Google Chrome — or a witches brew between the two — but I do know I wouldn’t do anything important in Google Wave right now unless and until there’s a better, and more direct, method for getting help from Google.

In sum, Google Chrome for Mac is a clear winner.  Chrome is a delight to use, it is incredibly fast in loading pages and even in its infancy — Google Chrome is already a mature masterpiece.

4 Comments

  1. Number nine is the most troubling! I would wonder how the information would be in the Google “database” when viewed in Firefox but not in Chrome.

  2. I agree Number 9 is not fun. I created the Waves in Firefox, but they never appeared in my Inbox as they should after I was finished writing, Gordon. When I clicked on another message in my Inbox, the new Waves were gone from view. All in Firefox! It was then that I fired up Chrome to see if Firefox was missing something. Nothing in Chrome. I keep hoping the Waves will reappear — they took a long time to write! I am not longer hopeful that will happen and from now on I’ll stick with Chrome as much as possible in case Firefox was the cause of the missing Waves.

  3. I just downloaded Google chrome while travelling in a train…it’s FAST & I like it!!!

  4. Chrome is the fastest browser available right now, Katha. Firefox might catch up in 2010, but the deep integration with all the Google services gives a rather large edge to Chrome in the future, I think.

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