Google Chrome - A Window into the Future
With Google, everything’s just simpler.
Google Chrome is no exception. As a browser, it’s simply a starting point. No illusions of grandeur, no misconceptions about the role of the application. It’s everything a browser should be and more.
Google points out that Chrome is just like the Google homepage, uncomplicated and efficient; “it gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.”
Google understands that though the browser may be one of the most critical elements of the online experience, it is overlooked in favour of the content browsing it affords. With that simple observation in mind, Chrome is minimalist; built to facilitate applications and “get out of the way”. While it goes unnoticed, unappreciated, Chrome achieves this function seamlessly.
Observers like to point out that the development of Chrome is Google’s attempt to take aim at Microsoft. Whether that’s the case or not, by entering the “Browser Wars” as they’ve been dubbed, the real winner is the consumer. Greater competition leads to greater advancements in the technology, the final product and the overall user experience.
Chrome may not be perfect just yet, and as several critics have made abundantly clear, still has a long way to go. But right now, here are a few ways Chrome sets itself apart.
V8 Speed
In every sense, chrome is essentially built for the future, boasting one of the fastest proprietary JavaScript rendering ‘V8’ engines on the market. As a direct result, supreme speed and responsiveness allow Chrome to run not only today’s complex applications with ease, but also those yet to be created.
The Omni-Bar
Potentially the greatest selling point for Chrome is the functionality of the browser itself. The Omni-Bar, labelled the “Psychic Bar” by its developers, is an all-encompassing address bar, serving multiple purposes while taking up minimal space. Acting as a traditional address bar, a search box and a history tool, the Omni-Bar will suggest sites from your history as you type, akin to predictive text in SMS, or allow you to search by keywords like Google’s search page. Perhaps the most impressive feature of the Omni-Bar is that it allows you to search within foreign sites. Say you’ve searched on Craigslist that day, Chrome remembers, and provides the option to search within that website next time, all from the one convenient location within the Chrome address bar.
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Data Import
When you first run the browser following download, Chrome imports your bookmarks, settings and passwords from the previous browser you were using, be it Firefox or Internet Explorer.
Incognito Searching
The ability to go ‘stealth’ – whether searching for Christmas gifts or browsing in privacy – is yet more example of Google’s innovative genius. Click Cntl+Shift+N and Chrome’s ‘Incognito’ mode opens within a new tab. With Incognito, all cookies, websites and downloaded files are deleted when the browsing window is closed.
Inter-operable Tab Functionality
Tabbed browsing with Chrome is both secure and convenient. Like speed-dial for the web, when a tab is opened, the history of most visited sites will appear as thumbnails in the centre of the browser. Inter-operability and window management are made easy, too, as tabs can be dragged into a new window or rearranged to suit whatever need arises.
Browser Security
Security measures within each tab have also been well thought out in Chrome’s development. If a tab should crash, only that individual tab crashes, not the entire browser. Chrome also warns users when they are about to view a potentially insecure site.
Open Source Capability
At the theoretical core of the Google revolution is open-source programming. Again, Chrome is no exception. With the Google Chrome Operating System set for release in the second half of 2010, Google are releasing their vision to the community now, so that, as the Official Google Blog declares, “everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.”
With over 30 million converted to Google Chrome as of July, 2009, the scope for community development is clearly there.
As more and more companies today shield themselves from community scrutiny, Google represent a refreshing transparency, where both literally and figuratively public involvement is paramount. From development, to company goals and limitations, Google is seemingly an open book.
“We have a lot of work to do”, Google declares, “and we're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision.”
If Chrome’s development to date is a window into tomorrow’s browser, it appears that once again, with Google, our online future is in good hands. |
