Google Chrome
The new web browser from Google is sleek, fast, simple and aims to take on the big boys. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is still the most popular web browser in the world but just as MSoft is taking on Google in the online advertising field Google is pushing back by taking on the market leader in web applications.
The browser software itself took seconds to download in install and imported existing favorites without difficulty. From deciding to try Chrome to actually using it took just three minutes, Google clearly want to make it easy for people to switch.
The Google search homepage is clean and uncluttered, minimalist almost, this makes it easy to use. The same design philosophy has been applied to Chrome, their new web browser; the navigation panel has been stripped of all unnecessary buttons, bars, banners, etc. Nothing is there that does not need to be there.
This simplicity of design hides a very powerful and sophisticated browser. When you first open the browser or open a new tab you are presented with thumbnails of your most visited pages making them just one click away. Your bookmarks are presented to you at the right of the screen and you favorites can be dragged to a top navigation panel. All these elements are in the browser screen rather than in the frame around it, this means that once you have clicked on your chosen page the browser is uncluttered and utilizes the bulk of the screen for the actual web page you are viewing.
What we liked:
Google Chrome is fast to download and set up and simple to use. The stripped down interface and in screen navigation give you plenty of space in the window for the web page that you are viewing and the thumbnails of your popular sites makes it easy to get to it.
What we didn't like:
Chrome doesn't seem as customizable as Firefox, for most people this will not be an issue but people running a web business may crave the SEO elements that can easily be woven into Firefox. This isn't a major concern as Chrome is an open source platform and developers will be creating add-ons for it soon, I have no doubt.
Conclusion:
Google's Chrome web browser is a very good product and is far better that Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) 7. However, many web users do not notice the shortfalls of IE7 so won't be actively looking to change. This is a shame because Chrome provides a very powerful alternative in a very simple package.
Download Chrome, Google's new web browser here.
