Google Chrome has just been launched for windows. They actually did a great job explaining (in cartoon form, no less) the thinking process behind it and how it’s different from other browsers.
Here is my list of top 10 reasons it’s a huge leap forward:
- Each tab is a separate process so failures are restricted to one tab only.
- Javascript is compiled to Machine code - so it’s way faster than any other browser, which interpret a mid-level language.
- The browser GUI is made so small, it’s almost invisible, so you can focus on the web-application or page.
- You can drag each tab and create a new window with it. (Or drag it back into the original window)
- You can create short-cuts to your favorite web apps (such as gmail, google maps, basecamp, etc.) These go on your desktop. Then when you start them, it’s as if they are a separate application.
- Bookmarks are super easy to use. Just select the star next to the URL. Organizing is easy, and you can open them in a new tab or window.
- The URL (or Omnibar) has autocomplete, and also does your Search automagically. duh!
- Opening a new Tab doesn’t take forever, and it shows you a “speed dial” page (like Opera), but also has your most recently viewed pages and most recently closed tabs. Genius.
- Unlike other browsers, such as Firefox, it doesn’t have Memory leaks - when you close a tab, since it was a separate process, all of its memory gets freed up. So no more rebooting every day, or more!
- Since each tab is a process, it’s possible to determine which tab is using up tons of CPU or memory!
Sure, Firefox is still great; it has tons of plugins that Chrome may or may not ever have. Also, Chrome is in beta infancy; but so far it shows great promise and demonstrates a complete leap forward beyond all the other browsers: IE, Safari, Opera, firefox.
