subject: Google Chrome [print this page] Now into its second year, Google Chrome has begun to mature from a lightweight and fast browsing alternative into an innovative browser on the precipice of a potential browsing revolution with the pending ChromeOS. The browser that people can use today, Chrome 6, offers countless features, hence maintaining Google's reputation for building one of the fastest browsers available today.
Installation: Chrome's installation process has no hassles or a time-consuming installation. It is simple, fast and straight forward. You will have an option of sending anonymous usage statistics to the company when downloading from the official Google website. On an average, the installation process should take around 2 minutes, that's all!
Interface: Beginning with a simple interface, Chrome's interface has changed with time, ever since its debut in September 2008. Tabs are still on top, the location bar--which Google likes to call the "Omnibar"--dominates the minimalist design, and the browser has few visible control buttons besides Back, Forward, and a combined Stop/Reload button. Chrome's extensions are fairly limited in how they can alter the browser's interface. Unlike Firefox, this gives add-on makers a lot of leeway to change the browser's look, Chrome mandates that extensions appear only as icons to the right of the location bar. Even with its limitations, the browser still remains easy-to-use and versatile.
Features and Support: Chrome 6's features are accessible from the preferences menu, and the browser offers a complete range of modern browsing conveniences. The basics are well-represented; including tabbed browsing, new window creation, and a private browsing mode that Google calls "Incognito" which disables cookies tracking, history recording, extension support and other browsing breadcrumbs.
Chrome also contains a lot of privacy-tweaking settings. Also, like Firefox, Chrome gives users broad control over search engines and setting search customizations.The Chrome extension manager, bookmark manager, and download manager all open in new tabs. They allow you to search their contents and throw in some basic management.
Chrome is also a leader in HTML5 implementation, which is patchy because of the continuing development of HMTL5 standards. This will become more important in the coming months and years, but for right now it doesn't massively affect a user's interaction with Web sites.
Conclusion: While the initial version of Chrome, Chrome 5, was not much to attract users, the new Google Chrome 6 has created some serious competition with rival browsers, and also gained popularity. Google has done well despite minor problems in the browser. This browser is fast, light and fun to use. So go one and try using it, you can download it at : http://www.google.com/chrome
