GBrowser -- enduring rumour no longer just vaporware

[Mr. Analog]

Well, given the browser has been out for a day or so the plug ins haven't yet rolled in, however there is a workaround that may interest you anyway (as it would block most stuff for all browsers):

http://chromespot.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=8cea1dc55b3874c5d6a62faa6dc4429f&topic=43.0

[Lazybones]

Using an external proxy would amount to bloat of running another application.

[Mr. Analog]

Using an external proxy would amount to bloat of running another application.

Yes, as it is another application it would add bloat. But again, I think we'll see popular plug-ins like adBlock in about a weeks time or so for Chrome.

[Mr. Analog]

Actually, the more I think about it having a proxy filter outside a specific browser might not be a bad idea for most cases. Sometimes I'm forced to use IE (like with the Steam browser) where I haven't bothered to install a ad blocker that might come in handy. Sure it's another process running but then I wouldn't need any more plug-ins that call home for updates from time to time.

[Mr. Analog]

The awsomebar omnibox seems to work almost exactly the same as firefox 3 the ONLY difference is that it doesn't put a page match in the input box and instead sticks to the root domain or subdomain.

The "awesomebar" in FF3 looked like a list of big boxes with all sorts of extra information in it, when I tried Chrome last night it was a list of single line entries with just the domain name and maybe a few subdirectories. This is a big difference in usability, Chrome did what I expected to see, FF3 did something I did not. From earlier posts I had a big time problem with this.

I can be a big curmudgeon when it comes to new software but Chrome is becoming the FF3 I wanted. All of the features and none of the "cruft" as my co-worker says.

Look, theres plenty of room for a variety of browsers to fill the market and Firefox 3 is the best browser choice out there now in terms of flexibility and features, but it failed the usability test for me. Trying Chrome last night was remarkably natural and inviting so I'm a big fan of it.

Maybe I had different expectations this time, maybe I expected a lot more garbage in my face (or something?). Bottom line is, barring the plug-in support I think Chrome is a winner and certainly worth checking out it not geeking out about.



As a side note of interest...

(according to "Clicky") Chrome seems to have gathered almost 3% of the Global browser share already, wow!

[Darren Dirt]

Onion-esque take on it... http://notnews.today.com/2008/09/02/everyone-except-microsoft-grits-teeth-welcomes-google-chrome-web-browser/

Oh, and thank you Jack Black, for using the word "AWESOME" so many times in Kung Fu Panda that it caught on all over the place and now it is getting Quite Old, dammit.

But "Awesometown", the failed pilot done by "The Lonely Island" (Andy Samberg* & Friends) still rocks.



*if you haven't watched their parody "The 'Bu", do yourself a favor and take the time to do so.



PS: "cruft" is a nice word, I think Douglas Adams would approve of its perfect applicabilityness.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cruft

[Thorin]

I might have a look at it soon, but I'm wondering how often Google will update it.  And I wonder if they'll take the Beta tag off within a reasonable amount of time.

[Mr. Analog]

I might have a look at it soon, but I'm wondering how often Google will update it.  And I wonder if they'll take the Beta tag off within a reasonable amount of time.

Well there is one thing it does automatically that I don't like, it enables the Google update client by default, so much for "do no evil".

[Tonnica]

I think I'll give this browser a spin, see how it runs on my 900 EEE PC. That'll be a real tell for me because the screen is so small (is funny to me) and anything that does "proper" fullscreen browsing is a boon.

Oh, and thank you Jack Black, for using the word "AWESOME" so many times in Kung Fu Panda that it caught on all over the place and now it is getting Quite Old, dammit.

It is everywhere but you can blame my over-use of "awesome" on being a goon. It's used so often there the word has its' own emote. And I'd be willing to bet you five bucks youve seen it before, somewhere already!

[Darren Dirt]

Seriously, the A-word is everywhere...



But sometimes no other word fits

[Mr. Analog]

I think I'll give this browser a spin, see how it runs on my 900 EEE PC. That'll be a real tell for me because the screen is so small (is funny to me) and anything that does "proper" fullscreen browsing is a boon.

Oh, and thank you Jack Black, for using the word "AWESOME" so many times in Kung Fu Panda that it caught on all over the place and now it is getting Quite Old, dammit.

One of the new features is that each tab is sandboxed and memory is managed on a per tab basis. So, if something crashes in one tab you won't lose your whole browser session.

There is a memory manager as well that tells you what resources what tabs are using.

I haven't played with all the features yet but the debugger tools seem quite advanced (like someone built-in Firebug or something).

[Darren Dirt]

...and so on...

Glitters or needs polish?
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=210300348

Chrome has a gaping privacy hole, but it's not in the code, it's in the terms of service. Google reserves the right to reproduce, display, and distribute any content that you submit, post or display Chrome, as my colleague Art Wittmann notes. So if you e-mail proprietary company documents through Gmail using Chrome, or edit them using Google Docs and Chrome, Google has the right to hang onto those documents and do whatever it wants with them -- send them to your competitor, or post them to the public Web.

Quite an exaggerated interpretation of the TOS, I hope... But on the surface it does appear "technically correct". 




PS: if you haven't seen the comic yet, check it out...
http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/




- - - - - - -

update: whew?

As noted by an attorney at Tap the Hive and various and sundry other sites, the Chrome EULA reads like a lot of Google's other EULAs. It requires users to "give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and nonexclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services."

"Services" seems like an odd way to describe a web browser, but the EULA makes clear that "Services" refers to "Google?s products, software, services and web sites." The EULA's indication that Google could republish anything even "displayed" in the browser sounded a tiny bit evil, even if Google might just be looking to stave off lawsuits...

Now, Google tells Ars that it's a mistake, the EULA will be corrected, and the correction will be retroactive.

[Darren Dirt]

PS: if you haven't seen the comic yet, check it out...
http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/

This to me is the biggest WOW factor...
http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/images/14.jpg
http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/images/15.jpg

[Lazybones]

Google has updated the terms of service
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10031703-56.html
"11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services."

[Lazybones]

HardOCP.com actually loads just as fast or faster for me in Firefox 3.. I think it is because all of the ads are blocked.

digg.com however is noticeably faster probably do to their HEAVY use of java on the site.