Tag Archives: google chrome

Google Chrome 6 brings cleaner interface and minor new features

Leave a Reply

Google Chrome was recently updated to it’s latest version – version 6.0. The new version includes a few minor updates.

The interface has been cleaned up a little since 5.0, with the main navigation controls looking slightly more seamless. In addition, the address bar no longer shows the “http://” part of the URL. At first I thought this would be annoying, but there are exceptions to this rule which make it more practical.

  • If you copy and paste a link from the address bar, Chrome automatically replaces the “http://” in the URL. This avoids any problems with using URLs in social networks or placing them in IM conversations.
  • If you go to a secure site, Chrome replaces the “https://” in the URL. This avoids any user confusion when purchasing products online.

With exception to those minor new features, there isn’t much to know. There is a new form feature which allows you to save personal details into the browser, so that you can sign up and pay for products with ease.

In addition, Google claims that there are javascript improvements with the new version together with extension sync (similar to bookmark sync but for extensions).

It is also worth noting that Chrome is now 2 years old. Happy Birthday Chrome. It was actually launched on September 2nd, 2008. I can remember trying the first Chrome beta and immediately switching from Firefox.  I haven’t gone back since!

You can grab the version by going to google.com/chrome or heading to “About Google Chrome” from within the browser.

Google Chrome OS now available – only on VMware and Virtualbox

Leave a Reply

Well it’s been all over the tech news over the last 24 hours – Google Chrome OS. Google finally announced it formally yesterday, and as far as I know it is now available to download and use.

Sadly, it’s only available as a virtual machine at this time. You can get it for VMware Player or Virtualbox now. The download is available free from GDGT.

I haven’t got round to trying it yet, but hope to do so sometime this weekend. I’ve just downloaded the Office 2010 beta and would like to review that shortly, so I’ll do that first – but afterwards I’ll give Chrome OS a go.

To be honest, I haven’t got the highest hope it will be a huge success. I mean it’s a really cool concept, but it’s basic – a bit too basic. It might take off with netbooks, but I think it will annoy people who are used to powerful computers.

We’ll see what happens – I’ll get a review in as soon as possible.

Two things I really want sorted in Chrome

Leave a Reply

I love Chrome, it’s a fantastic browser that’s super-quick and very reliable. However, there are two things I really want Google to fix.

1. RSS: Why doesn’t Google Chrome support RSS? It seems a little dim, but can prove really annoying after a little while. Firefox shows an icon when an RSS feed is available on a website (see below) and even has a built in feed subscriber (see below), but Chrome has neither. Google need to sort this in my opinion. 

windowclippings_1c6f2f5f2b6442b6afb74ed86e013abd1Above: Firefox

ChromeAbove: Chrome

2. Downloads: I have a real issue with Chrome when you download something. When I download a file, I often ask it to download and then get into the habit of closing the web browser and forgetting something was downloading. In Firefox, this is no problem as a ‘Downloads’ window appears when you download a file and if you close the browser window by mistake, the file continues to download. However, in Chrome downloads run more internally and it doesn’t have a separate window for downloads. So if you close the browser, Chrome cancels the download! No problem if the file is 1MB or something as small as that, but if you’re in the middle of a 100MB file this is a pain. Even Internet Explorer (dare I say it) handles downloads better than Chrome. 

Those are my two rants with Chrome. Google, fix the RSS and the downloads. The problems aren’t big enough to put me off (Chrome is still my default browser) but they do get really annoying after a while. If Google would fix this in a later version, it would definately be to my benefit, and to many others.

What do you think about Google Chrome?

Leave a Reply

As I mentioned in the post Is Internet Explorer 8 worth it?, I love Google Chrome. It’s such a fast browser, only crashes in rare occasions (despite the fact it’s in BETA) and I love the new tab management.

There are things Google could do to improve it, of course. But that’s the same with most software. I rarely find any program that is absolutely perfect for me.

What are your thoughts on it, could it be improved?