The browser wars heat up: Google Chrome

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2008-09-03 12:54pm

Something curious I caught last night. At least some webpages couldn't be rendered properly with Chrome, but the error message was "your version of Safari isn't recognized." Any idea why Chrome would be identifying itself as Safari?

Faqa · Post by **Faqa** » 2008-09-03 02:49pm

Hmmm. No Opera-import support. This makes me sad.

On the other hand, the UI is very cute, and I like the minimalism(and it has a few nice shinies, like the textbox-resize).

Can't feel much of a speed difference, but I haven't tested it properly yet.

Netko · Post by **Netko** » 2008-09-03 05:53pm

I've been trying it out a bit, and so far my observations are as follows:

+ its fast and smooth, really fast and smooth, which is appreciated after coming from FF3 which bloated up quite a bit
+ excellent usage of screen space and overall design - it still contains everything I have in FF, but with 50ish px less space - with a 16:10 display, horizontal space is at a premium, so its very appreciated. The fact that the tab bar is right at the top of the screen is a great design usability improvement
+ I appreciate the localization efforts, even if I'll probably turn it back into English for long-term use do to the terminology being more stable in English (everyone still tends to translate the standard Internet terminology their own way). However, the excellent translations opens it up for it to be recommended to certain friends and family members who have a much shallower English knowledge
- it lacks support for any sort of mouse gestures - this alone would have disqualified it for heavy surfing for my own use
- search engine selection is very clumsy compared to FF (unless I'm missing something), which is a problem since I use 4-5 different engines daily and need to be able to switch quickly
- zoom is old style text zoom and not fullscreen zoom
- my bookmarks translated surprisingly well, bookmark toolbar and all, which just makes the dropping of RSS feeds that more jarring
- obviously, a lack of the myriad FF plugins that make it the preferred power user browser

Overall, its an impressive start. Impressive enough that I plan to have it installed side by side for quick lookups (WoW) where FF's bloat is a problem (do to my RSS feed bookmarks it takes FF some 10s to become usable). I can easily see it being an excellent browser for the unwashed masses, and may in fact recommended as such. Still, for power users, for now, its still lacking some critical features for it to be a viable replacement.

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2008-09-03 07:17pm

I don't know whether it was something different or what, but I didn't have the text box problem some of us mentioned earlier when I entered a comment on a Wired article, yet it still happens here. Has anyone seen it without using quick reply?

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2008-09-03 07:36pm

Yeah, definitely having a text wrap & overtyping issue, but I found that if I go click on the next line it clears out the error and everything displays right again. Also, going back and deleting stuff in the middle of a line results in a similar error, I get either no deletion or a partial delete until I go to the end of the paragraph and hit enter & backspace to reset everything. This is going on here both with the quick reply and standard reply.

Oh yeah, the mouse wheel now works in reverse, what use to be scroll down in FireFox is now scroll up and vice-versa. Pain in the ass.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2008-09-03 08:08pm

aerius wrote:Yeah, definitely having a text wrap & overtyping issue, but I found that if I go click on the next line it clears out the error and everything displays right again. Also, going back and deleting stuff in the middle of a line results in a similar error, I get either no deletion or a partial delete until I go to the end of the paragraph and hit enter & backspace to reset everything. This is going on here both with the quick reply and standard reply.

I'd imagine they'll have that fixed by the time it's out of Beta. . .I hope.

Oh yeah, the mouse wheel now works in reverse, what use to be scroll down in FireFox is now scroll up and vice-versa. Pain in the ass.

I'm not experiencing this. Maybe you have a weird mouse or something?

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2008-09-03 08:17pm

General Zod wrote:
Oh yeah, the mouse wheel now works in reverse, what use to be scroll down in FireFox is now scroll up and vice-versa. Pain in the ass.
I'm not experiencing this. Maybe you have a weird mouse or something?

My Logitech MX510 may be getting a little dated but I'd say it's anything but a weird mouse. The reversed mouse wheel is driving me nuts and I can't find an option to fix it.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2008-09-03 08:41pm

aerius wrote:
General Zod wrote:
Oh yeah, the mouse wheel now works in reverse, what use to be scroll down in FireFox is now scroll up and vice-versa. Pain in the ass.
I'm not experiencing this. Maybe you have a weird mouse or something?
My Logitech MX510 may be getting a little dated but I'd say it's anything but a weird mouse. The reversed mouse wheel is driving me nuts and I can't find an option to fix it.

Maybe something about the browser tweaked your mouse settings? I got no idea then, cause I'm using a Logitech laser mouse and it's working fine.

JointStrikeFighter · Post by **JointStrikeFighter** » 2008-09-03 09:26pm

General Zod wrote:
aerius wrote:
General Zod wrote: I'm not experiencing this. Maybe you have a weird mouse or something?
My Logitech MX510 may be getting a little dated but I'd say it's anything but a weird mouse. The reversed mouse wheel is driving me nuts and I can't find an option to fix it.
Maybe something about the browser tweaked your mouse settings? I got no idea then, cause I'm using a Logitech laser mouse and it's working fine.

I can second the mouse working fine on a Logitech G5 and a Logitech VX Nano.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2008-09-03 11:10pm

Odd, the mouse wheel is reversed on my wife's computer as well, she's using a Logitech LX8 on her computer. I spin the mouse wheel to scroll up and the darn thing goes down.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2008-09-04 11:54am

Is Chrome foreshadowing the next Metroid Prime?

Seriously, how original.

I'm installing it now, but I won't be able to use it until after classes.

EDIT: MOTHERFUCKER! I don't want this shit installed to my OS partition, I want it in the Programs partition! I barely have enough space in there anyway....ARGH!

Netko · Post by **Netko** » 2008-09-04 04:10pm

Why do you have a programs partition?

---

A really nice thing that I found out about Chrome after a bit more digging and usage is the fact that it integrates really well with Vista - both with the excellent Aero integration, as well as respecting and utilizing the security advancements existing in Vista. Notice the lack of UAC prompts, the integration in the tiered privilege system that IE7 also uses, however with even better usage of it IMO. It can also use IE plugins (a bit of hit and miss currently; WMP works, Flash works, Silverlight does not). Apparently, they plan to continue that and integrate support for other systems as well.

This is something that always bugged me a bit about Firefox, the fact that while it espouses platform-specific customization, in the end they are truly minor (mostly skins) and it really tries to be a one size fits all browser. Which is problematic because it limits the browser to a lowest common denominator set. No integration into the spell checker system (OS X, some Linuxes apparently), username and password system (Windows, OS X), parental control system, security privilege system, etc. Worse, they don't really plan to do those integrations either, unlike Chrome.

Along with its other advantages, this makes me think that Chrome, in versions 1.x and especially 2.x will fast eat a lot of Firefox's marketshare. They have much better fundamentals (check out http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/, it has an excellent explanation that shouldn't go over people's heads too much for most people), arguably a better design philosophy (the integration mindset compared to targeting a zillion different platforms with a, mostly, one size fits all), and you can bet Google is going to promote the hell out of it (integration deals). The only question is how fast can they integrate the non-essential, but showstopper systems that a lot of the current FF users use (plugins, mouse gestures, etc.). Or rather, can they implement them before FF dev team wakes up.

Between Chrome and IE8, which is also going to have some interesting new features, I'm a bit worried about FF's long term future.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2008-09-05 06:41am

Nice browser with a shiny interface that blends in beautifully with Vista.

Just one problem.

Currently I am connected via a GPRS modem on a package that barely provides faster than 56K speeds. I turn off images in firefox when using this connection. But I can't find the option to do so in chrome. How do I turn off images so that pages don't take forever to load ?

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2008-09-05 09:46am

Sarevok wrote:Nice browser with a shiny interface that blends in beautifully with Vista.

Just one problem.

Currently I am connected via a GPRS modem on a package that barely provides faster than 56K speeds. I turn off images in firefox when using this connection. But I can't find the option to do so in chrome. How do I turn off images so that pages don't take forever to load ?

I don't think you can.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2008-09-06 02:46pm

Is it really that slow to warrant turning off images? I browse online with my Nokia all the time, and Opera Mini loads all pages practically instantly. But then I expect the 3G connection I have is better than most.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2008-09-06 02:47pm

Is it really that slow to warrant turning off images? I browse online with my Nokia all the time, and Opera Mini loads all pages practically instantly. But then I expect the 3G connection I have is better than most.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2008-09-06 02:59pm

Problem I've had come up that didn't occur the first couple times I used Chrome: it now seems to be "always on top" and I have to minimize it to get to any other programs I have running. I also autohide my task bar and when Chrome is maximized the task bar doesn't reappear when I move the mouse to the bottom of the screen.

Other than that, I really like how fast and efficient it is, especially compared to Firefox.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2008-09-06 07:26pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Is it really that slow to warrant turning off images? I browse online with my Nokia all the time, and Opera Mini loads all pages practically instantly. But then I expect the 3G connection I have is better than most.

He said he's on GPRS with speeds comparable to 56k.

TimothyC · Post by **TimothyC** » 2008-09-07 12:58am

Interesting anomaly - Chrome is not indexed by Google Desktop Search.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-07 01:10am

Using it now. It's interesting, but it's not doing anything that Firefox doesn't already do for me, except that Chrome has the good sense to scroll down to where I was on a previous page if I navigate back.

Two things I've noticed:

The text wrap thing is well documented already, I won't elaborate.
However, Pandora and Chrome seem to get along very, very poorly. That might just be strain on the uni server a 1 A.M. on Saturday night, but it was a very marked change in performance speed when Pandora was open.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2008-09-07 11:58am

Qwerty 42 wrote:Using it now. It's interesting, but it's not doing anything that Firefox doesn't already do for me, except that Chrome has the good sense to scroll down to where I was on a previous page if I navigate back.

Two things I've noticed:

The text wrap thing is well documented already, I won't elaborate.
However, Pandora and Chrome seem to get along very, very poorly. That might just be strain on the uni server a 1 A.M. on Saturday night, but it was a very marked change in performance speed when Pandora was open.

What kind of strain would be on a uni server at 1AM on a Saturday night? You mean Sunday morning? Either day, it's probably one of the lowest loads the server should be under...

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-07 12:46pm

Phantasee wrote:
Qwerty 42 wrote:Using it now. It's interesting, but it's not doing anything that Firefox doesn't already do for me, except that Chrome has the good sense to scroll down to where I was on a previous page if I navigate back.

Two things I've noticed:

The text wrap thing is well documented already, I won't elaborate.
However, Pandora and Chrome seem to get along very, very poorly. That might just be strain on the uni server a 1 A.M. on Saturday night, but it was a very marked change in performance speed when Pandora was open.
What kind of strain would be on a uni server at 1AM on a Saturday night? You mean Sunday morning? Either day, it's probably one of the lowest loads the server should be under...

Sunday morning, yeah.

We've had a tropical storm just blow through, and most buildings are closed on weekends because of budget cuts, so most people are inside and online.

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2008-09-07 08:57pm

Qwerty 42 wrote:
Phantasee wrote:
Qwerty 42 wrote:Using it now. It's interesting, but it's not doing anything that Firefox doesn't already do for me, except that Chrome has the good sense to scroll down to where I was on a previous page if I navigate back.

Two things I've noticed:

The text wrap thing is well documented already, I won't elaborate.
However, Pandora and Chrome seem to get along very, very poorly. That might just be strain on the uni server a 1 A.M. on Saturday night, but it was a very marked change in performance speed when Pandora was open.
What kind of strain would be on a uni server at 1AM on a Saturday night? You mean Sunday morning? Either day, it's probably one of the lowest loads the server should be under...
Sunday morning, yeah.

We've had a tropical storm just blow through, and most buildings are closed on weekends because of budget cuts, so most people are inside and online.

Most people should be out having a good time. Oh wait... what's that?... Americans aren't allowed to drink until they're 21? What kind of foolishness is that?

Seriously, why aren't people at least partying it up in their rooms or at a friend's place? I've been know to play online games on Friday and Saturday nights, but it wasn't a common occurrence.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2008-09-07 10:05pm

Phantasee wrote:What kind of strain would be on a uni server at 1AM on a Saturday night? You mean Sunday morning? Either day, it's probably one of the lowest loads the server should be under...

Bit torrent clients, maybe a bunch of people loaded them up before heading out to party and left them to run overnight to finish the downloads.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2008-09-07 10:38pm

Battlehymn Republic wrote:Google is a Microsoft wolf in the skin of Apple. Nice.

A wolf in a slightly better-groomed wolf's clothing?