Rating: 3.5 WaterTowers
I have been seeing a smattering of Google Chrome browsers hitting my blogs and main web site so I decided to find out more.
I downloaded Google Chrome a few days ago and have now made it my “default” browser.
Really quickly here is what I have found out:
- Google Chrome has a few quirks that I will talk about shortly.
- It is fast. I can access web pages much faster than I can with Firefox (I hardly ever use IE since it ….oh well, I will be nice).
- I like the “Home” page Chrome presents to me (see below). I can click on a thumbnail of one of my “favorite” destinations and bingo…I’m there.
- Chrome has an “incognito” feature that allows you to browse in secret. This could come in handy if, for example, you are ordering Christmas presents and don’t want others to see what you have been doing. Likewise, visiting not so savory sites can be kept secret…not that I do that.
What Works
In my normal browsing day I can add new content to my Blogs (Blogger), I can visit Google Analytics to see how many people visited my blogs and web site, I can listen to KAT Country, I can watch a YouTube video or two (or three), I can order something for Christmas “incognito”, or I can watch live news on CNN.com. And more….
Chrome works just fine for all that I mentioned above.
What Does Not work
When I first started using Chrome, I could not find the “Home” button. How frustrating. In any browser, you use the “Home” button to go home. I had to dig for awhile to find that the home button is an option!
Here is a suggestion: Make the home button show up as a default. The reason for this is because every other browser uses it and chances are everyone is used to using it. If you want, make its disappearance optional.
I cannot for the life of me find how to adjust the page settings when I print. This is irritating because when I print the type face is so small I can barely read it. Google: Is there a page setup control? If so, where is it? And remember this…the population is aging hopefully someday you will understand….size does matter 
In Blogger…how funny is this since Google is Blogger….I cannot take away a “Gadget”. The popup that ultimately completes this task does not pop up in Chrome. I have to use Firefox (or that other browser) to complete the removal process.
I also can't select a picture in Blogger to cut and paste it to another location in the blog. I have to use Firefox to finish.
Some feel that there are privacy issues with Chrome. I have no experience with that, but, you can read this article to find out more.
Summary
Overall Google Chrome is working fine for most of the tasks I complete on a day-to-day basis. I understand that a few quirks still exist, and hope that Google finds the time to fix them. I like the speed and the “Home” page a lot, so I will keep using Chrome until something crops up that I cannot work around. Firefox is my backup, but, I like the forward looking features of Chrome better.
