Google Chrome Review

What Google once did for search, they are now trying to do for browsers. Early this week Google released Chrome, its new standards-compliant web browser.

Here I offer a review of Chrome, looking at performance, user interface, and technology advancements. But first -- What It All Means.

Google Chrome Review: The Big Picture

You've heard the phrases Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 (usually sarcasticly stated). This is a neat and tidy way to look at Google Chrome. The browsers of yore (if you can call 15 years "yore") were built on the assumption that a web browser was your gateway to the Information Superhighway. Meaning -- it was required for entry and any improvement to the browser was an improvement to your web experience. Over time more and more features were added to the browsers to help you. The problem is that these features usually ended up hurting more than helping.

• Making up there own stuff. Some sites worked in some browsers, while others did not. This is a well known issue in web development and often the cause of many web user's frustrations.
• Increase their "silicon footprint". Browsers have become notorious memory hogs. This means a web experience with continually worsening rush hour traffic.
• Crashing your entire system. Browsers have a tendency to have memory leaks. So if you leave a browser open for a couple of hours, or worse, overnight, you usually wake up a sluggish beast that can only be slain with a computer reboot.

Enter Chrome. Chrome aims to revolutionize the browser marketplace by introducing a browser that takes a back seat to your web surfing. Chrome does the bare minimum of what a web browser should do, but in the safest, fastest way possible. Google seeks to have the web visitor "ignore the browser". So instead of a bloated interface, the most important thing at the top of the browser are tabs, back and forth buttons, and the URL entry field. That's it, really. You don't even have a print button (most webpages offer better print-versions online, but don't worry, you can still access a print option from the browser if necessary).

Chrome has a great comic that explains the big changes.

Google Chrome's Welcome Change to the User Interface

As stated before, the interface is minimalist. Outside of the tabs, you have One Box to enter your web address. That's about it. It's a bit disconcerting when you first open up Chrome -- you ask "where is all the stuff". But then you quickly realize you never needed or wanted it.

The biggest change to the browser user interface is the introduction of placing the tabs at the top of the page. These tabs can easily be selected and dragged outside the main browser window to open a new browser window. When you open a new tab, it gives you a visual history of your 9 most recent visited web pages and most used search engines and bookmarks. That's one helpful, simple start-up page.

Also, there are some neat features like being able to easily and quickly create a link to your favorite webapp (like Gmail). This type of behavior is part of the industry's growing awareness that the future is not apps you install on your computer, but rather apps you access online.

As you engage further with the browser, some neat things happen. For example, the browser adds suggestions as you type (a common feature in Firefox 3.0), and darkens the main URL of a website for improved readibility. My favorite is the downloads. When you download a file, the browser provides a very informative animation as to where you can access the downloaded file, and even gives you an option to view your entire download history with a descriptive page stating when and what was downloaded. Nice.

Technology Review of Google Chrome

Chrome is based on Webkit, the open source browser engine that powers Apple’s Safari for Mac and PC. This is important to note because Chrome's "base" is a great browser, despite the typical memory hogging issues that plague all browsers (of which is worse, IE). Interestingly, Chrome currently runs only in Windows.

But Chrome definitely improves upon Webkit, technically speaking. The biggest improvement is how Chrome handles memory. Rather than having a single thread where just one bug could tear down your browser, every webpage is separated and multi-threaded. This concept isn't new -- most operating systems do this to increase system stability. Chrome is just the first to do this at the browser level. Chrome even has it's own TASK MANAGER, so you can kill processes that are hogging resources just as you could do in Windows. This is a really, really big evolution in browser development, so let's have a moment of silence to respect it.

Chrome's next big advancement is the javascript engine. Javascript is a powerful scripting language that powers most modern web application. The problems are that it can have memory leaks, tends to hog resources, and is "slower" than, say, a Flash plugin. Not anymore. Chrome completely reinvents the javascript wheel with its V8 engine (were car buffs working on Chrome?). Without going into developer-speak details, just understand this: it's fast, and it's powerful. Really fast and powerful.

Finally, performance testing. One of the problems with browsers is that they were limited to user testing. Google automates testing by leveraging their amazing processing power infrastructure. The end result is less bugs upon release (and, hopefully, less releases).

Getting Started with Google Chrome

There are some great other features to Chrome that you will enjoy such as Incognito mode -- your entire web session will not appear in your browser and search history and leaves no traces such as cookies will be left after you close the browser.

But don't take my word for it. Download and install Chrome. Try it for a week. If you don't like it, uninstall it. No risk or obligation.

Installation was amazingly easy. Go to Google to Download, accept the Terms and Conditions, and you are done. The default settings are to import your bookmarks from your other browsers. Interestingly, the default is NOT to set Chrome as the default browser (IE could learn a lesson here).

Closing Thoughts on Google Chrome Review

Will Chrome eat away at Microsoft's eroding market share? As a web developer who has seen the rise and fall of Netscape, and the monopoly of Internet Explorer, and the entry of the savvy Firefox, my hope is yes.

But at the very least, it's nice to see progress in the browser market after IE6's 7 years of monopolistic reign. Welcome back innovation, we missed you.