Google Chrome

So I've logged into Windows because I repeatedly failed at testing Google Chrome on Ubuntu Hardy. I'm sure someone somewhere knows how to do it easily, but I had problems. Curiosity got the better of me and now here I am in Windows, posting this through Google Chrome. I've noticed the positive aspects of Google Chrome but I've also quickly noticed the bad points. One of the things Firefox 3 concentrated on, Google totally ignored.

Let's go with the positive points first. Speed. Yes, Google Chrome does load pages faster than Firefox. But is it considerably faster? Not really. It's only a minor difference if any. Firefox 3 by itself doesn't match up to Google Chrome. But a Firefox 3 with proper modifications in about:config will generate results roughly similar to Google Chrome. Google Chrome loads pages with javascript very slightly faster than that of a tweaked Firefox 3 - it's barely noticeable.

The other speed aspect - application opening times. In Windows, Firefox strangely takes at least 3 seconds to appear even though it's a warm start (meaning you've repeatedly opened the application, not for the first time for the session). I've got like 50 addons, though. Strangely that doesn't affect the performance of Firefox 3 in Linux. Same number of addons, if not more, but Firefox loads instantaneously in Linux (Ubuntu) but not the same under Windows. Google Chrome starts almost as immediately as I click on the icon.

Here are the negative aspects. CSS-heavy pages. Google Chrome loses horribly to Firefox. Firefox 3 loads CSS-heavy pages way quicker than Google Chrome. And with talks of Firefox 3.1 being much faster with javascript, Google Chrome will start to lose it's appeal soon.

Firefox 3 developers did all they could to reduce memory usage of Firefox - something Google Chrome clearly ignored. I've got 3 tabs open, and it's already hitting 100mb. Firefox 3 with 50+ addons and 10 tabs goes that high. I know, I know. Google Chrome's tabs are individual processes. Just like Prism. But even individual Prism apps don't take up as much as Google Chrome's tabs. In fact, Prism's individual windows are about half of Google Chrome's tabs.

So, am I impressed? Yes, definitely I am. Google Chrome can surely replace my Opera or Safari. And with Google Chrome, Google has effectively built an OS for the average Desktop user. The average Desktop user can work and play entirely in Google chrome.

Google Chrome acts as (not limited to):
1.) Web-browser
2.) Email client (GMail)
3.) Office Suite (Google Docs)
4.) Photo Management (Picasa Web Albums)
5.) Calendar (Google Calendar)
6.) RSS Reader (Google Reader)
7.) Web Hosting (Google Pages)
8.) Blogging Platform (Blogger)
9.) Knowledge Base (Google Search, Directory, Scholar, Trends, Code, Knols, + endless list)
10.) Video (YouTube and Google Video).

It's literally one account for everything. Google offers all that for free. How anyone can be less than impressed with Google, I cannot comprehend. Google is so powerful in the world now - people even use Google as a verb.

In every way, Google Chrome is the perfect addition to the ocean of Google applications.

But here's what Google Chrome cannot come close to replacing:

1.) Epiphany (Tweaked) - You don't know what speed means till you've used Epiphany's latest browser with extensions and a tweaked configuration. Epiphany uses the Gecko rendering engine and it literally torches the Internet. You want speed? Opera, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, what not, don't come anywhere near Epiphany. Epiphany is not only lightweight, (it starts instantaneously) it is blazingly fast.
2.) Firefox 3.
3.) Prism Applications - I find Prism better than Google Chrome although Google Chrome does have more functionality than Prism. But sometimes you want to open just one application like GMail or Google Docs only, and only Prism offers that functionality. Unparalleled focus.

Google Chrome has my vote, but it's nowhere near becoming my default browser. Maybe I'd make it default for Google Apps. But I'm gonna wait for it to be released on Linux and see how it goes.