Wednesday, September 03, 2008:
Google made available its Web browser Chrome last night. The lightweight browser initially downloads a tiny (some 476 KB) installer on your PC and then it actually downloads and installs the browser. On a decent connection, it will take you some two-five minutes to download and install the browser. Unfortunately, the browser is only available for Windows Vista and XP. Linux and Mac users will have to wait, as usual. To download Chrome, click here.
|
|
Chrome offers some cool features. It eliminates the need of a separate search box, which has become typical of Firefox. In Chrome, just like Firefox 3, if you enter a name in the address bar, just the way you enter in the search box, it will not show you 'page not found', instead it will show you results from Google search. This makes it very user friendly -- making the address bar a universal gateway to the Internet.
I was not able to check how much stuff was downloaded to install Chrome on my machine, but since the installer took at least five minutes on my 512kbps connection, it means the total download must vary from 5-9 MB. However, unless I check, I don't want to make any claims. So, I would not call it a lightweight browser as yet.
Now coming to the feature side, Chrome seems to have brought together the best of all the popular browsers available today. It has new features, inspired from Opera, wherein on the blank page, you can see the thumbnails (at most nine) of the websites you visit often.
The multiple tabs are there but in a different manner; unlike the tabs of other browsers which open inside the window, these tabs open outside the window. It also enables you to create shortcuts of your online apps on the desktop and then use them off line through Google Gears.
I did not have much time to explore all the features so install Google Chrome -- you are sure to enjoy the exploration of the unknown. Google Chrome gives you a toy to play with for a while -- the only difference is when it comes to serious stuff, this toy called Chrome gets serious at work too.
Swapnil Bhartiya, EFYTIMES News Network
|