The Google Chrome browser
There are quite a few free Internet browsers available but the majority of home PC users stick with Internet Explorer (IE) since it is already there in Windows. Downloading and installing a browser like Firefox is a simple and straightforward process but even that small hurdle keeps average users as prisoners of IE. In fact, many don’t even know that they have a choice. I think that’s unfortunate since there are better browsers than IE out there.
Personally, I have been pretty happy with Firefox and have not felt the need to spend time trying out Opera or one of the other browser alternatives that get written about. However, after seeing a lot of commentary about how fast the new Google Chrome browser is, I finally decided to give Chrome a spin. And fast it is. So fast, that I may be using it rather regularly. Firefox has a lot of add-ons so it will continue to be my main browser but I do like Chrome. The installation was very easy. It can import your favorites from either IE or from Firefox.
At Computerworld, Gregg Keizer has a post, Chrome buries Windows rivals in browser drag race, where he writes:
Google’s new Chrome 3.0 is the fastest of the top five Windows browsers, and beats every rival, including Apple’s Safari, by comfortable margins, benchmark tests show.
Both Chrome and Safari use the open-source WebKit browser engine.
According to tests run by Computerworld, Chrome 3.0, which Google launched last week, is the fastest production version of the top five Windows browsers. Chrome renders JavaScript more than nine times faster than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), is over five times faster than Opera Software’s Opera 10, two-and-a-half times faster than Firefox 3.5 and 30% faster than Safari 4.0.
One thing I didn’t like was the Google EULA. In my opinion, it is too broad in granting rights to Google. If you are fussy about privacy, you should read it before installing Chrome. The download link is here.
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very nice idea. would be interested to hear how many downloads it gets. slightly strange to think someone would want to keep ie6, but be willing to install a plugin to avoid having to use ie6!