I can remember the first time I heard the word “Google”. My mate Gerbil told me I needed to try a “Google search” for some info I needed. A Google what? That was 2001.
I tried Google Chrome for the first time when it was publicly released at the end of 2008. Initially I was moderately impressed although I had issues with TGM – most of that were probably due to poor coding on my part! I certainly had a wee while to wait til I would consider setting it as my default browser.
Now Google has released v4 of it’s browser and it’s finally matured to the point where I’m seriously contemplating switching from Firefox. Why? Well… here’s a list of my favourite features.
- Extensions – This is a new toy with v4 (as far as I’m aware) and is similar to the extensions in Firefox. And why are extensions cool? They add extra “bits” on to the browser, like Mouse Gestures (built in to Opera since way back when and a staple of my favourite browsers) and Firebug Lite – a Chrome version of the Firefox add-on that is an absolute necessity for web developers.
- Synchronised bookmarks – Again this is an Opera trick that I’ve been just waaaaaaiting to find added to Firefox too. If you log into your Google account, you can synchronise your bokmarks between mutliple computers. I’m forever researching web tools and trends and bookmarking like crazy, but that’s no use when I get to work and wanna find what I’ve bookmarked. What a solution.
- Speed – out of the box I reckon you can’t beat Chrome for speed. It was one of Firefox’s originally selling points, but has totally gone by the wayside in recent bloat-ware releases. I often wonder if it’s Firebug that’s causing it – or my myriad of add-ons, but either way Chrome craps all over it. If I fire up ALL of my browsers at once, almost without fail Chrome will be the first one to be ready to use – even if I click it’s icon last. It’s possible that because I’m using the Google Desktop Apps which runs in a cut-down version of Chrome (meaning that it’s technically already up and running).
- Developer tools – yes the main Developer Tools aren’t a patch on Firebug (almost a moot point with Firebug Lite – which is just a smidge off from the real deal), but the Task Manager is just awesome. It’ll tell you (just like Windows Task Manager) how much CPU, memory and network traffic each tab, extension or plugin is using in your browser. A fantastic tool for developers trying to fine-tune their sites
So call me obsessive if you will, but Google is slowly become a huge part of my everyday life. Evil? Maybe. Cool? You bet. I urge you to try out Chrome. Also.. Check out these other great tools from Google:
- Gmail – THE web-based email solution
- Google Analytics – tracking hits to your sites
- Google Maps – If you haven’t seen this yet… where have you been?
- Picasa – Image cataloging and rudimentary editing software
There’s soooo many others (and probably more on the horizon too). Google are taking over the frickin’ world, man. Where to next? I’d like to see them offer an e-commerce application – they do Google Checkout (kinda like PayPal only not available in NZ) so I reckon it’s only a matter of time.
So stand up all you Googlephiles… Tell me how you use Google.