Google Chrome - Boost your browser | Google Chrome Review

Google Chrome - Boost your browser

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 | General

Ok, I know this has nothing to do with cars or drifting or anything else, but we all use the Internet (otherwise why are you reading this?) and this is sort of a big deal.

On September 2, Google announced the release of it’s Open Source, platform independent (beta version only available for Windows XP-Vista for now) web browser Google Chrome. I know what you’re thinking - It’s not enough all the kidlets are back to school and rush hour traffic doubled, now I have to learn to use a new browser?!?
Short answer: Yes. But, it’s well worth the 4 minutes it will take you to adjust to the top tabs and the extra real estate that’s open on the screen by eliminating the menus and task bar.

I’ve only been using it for a day, and I have to say it’s pretty slick. Pages load noticably faster thanks to Google Gears and the multi-threaded, multi-process technology (technical details click here) which basically means that every window/ tab runs it’s own set or processes, so if one crashed and becomes a Sad tab (seriously this is what it’s called) it won’t crash the rest of the browser.

Also a new feature to web browsing is the browser task manager which works like the Windows Task manager but easy to understand. The task window shows how much resources the browser is utilizing as well as each tab, so if one of the sites you’re accessing is slowing down your machine, you can 86 it and move on. If you really want to know more details you can click the “stats for nerds” link and get some serious details about what each page requires from your system.

Ok, so it’s all great but are there any features your average car junky will actually appreciate?
Yeah, the Incognito tab allows you to browse the web in Stealth mode, which means:
“Pages you view in this window won’t appear in your browser history or search history, and they won’t leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.”
- This can also be referred to as porn mode, but that’s a whole different conversation.

Today I’m proud to say that I am one of the 1% of all Internet users that have made Google Chrome their default browser. Of course I still have my IE and Trusty FireFox (not FireFox 3, because it crashes all the time, but the good one) just in case. So far I’m very pleased and am enjoying the Google juices, we’ll see how it holds over the next few weeks.

Check it out for yourself (download Google Chrome) and tell me what you think.

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