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First look:
Google Chrome
It’s no secret that I’ve never got on with Firefox. Most of the staff at 8Networks, techies that they are, prefer Firefox but for one reason or another I have always ended up back with IE. So it was with some trepidation that I viewed Google’s new browser, Chrome. Does the world really need another browser?
I’m getting that feeling. If Chrome wasn’t open-source and free, my credit card would be warming up. I’m sold, and I haven’t even seen the UI yet. Download inevitable.
60 seconds later I’m looking at shiny new chrome. Looks like the top half of the window is missing, but pleasing on the eye none-the less.
Time to fire up the first page and, STOP THE PRESS. How did that load so quickly? Must have been a fluke. OK, try something with loads of eye-candy, something that will give the browser a bit of a workout. NO WAY. How did it do that so quickly?
My 30-second trial turned into a two hour browsing session. It’s just fascinating to see how Chrome does things differently to IE. There are some issues running sites that rely heavily on Flash, e.g. volkswagen.co.uk, but for static sites Chrome is fast, accurate, and did I say fast? It is also the easiest browser I’ve ever used and the tabs<>windows<>tabs feature is brill. Compared to the heavyweight-corporate-ridden IE, Chrome feels like a Lotus Elise to a Merc CL. I don’t know if Google’s master plan is to keep it lightweight, or if the lack of features is because it this is Beta (Google did say their policy was to cut features in favour of rock-solid reliability), but herein lies my first question of doubt.
I want...
As CTO I want a browser that has all the corporate features of IE. Proxy lockdown, centralised certificate management, auto-configuration. All configured via Active Directory and Group policy. But as user I want a browser that is lightweight, fast and intuitive.
Impossible? I don’t think so. Given the speed and user experience of the Beta, all it’s lacking is enterprise features. And all developers know, once the basics are out, its quick and easy to add features.
*Eagerly waiting for Chrome 2.0 Service Pack 1.0a Enterprise Edition*