New Browser on the Block

[Celebrimbor]

Hey, anybody download and try out Google's Chrome browser?  I am loving it so far.  Because googling a lot of things is a hobby of mine, the close integration to my favorite search engine gives me goosebumps.

According to this article, Google Chrome is faster than Firefox, Internet explorer, and Safari.

[Gate Troll]

The tests were all done by Google so I doubt it. Besides, how many times faster is 'faster'? My Firefox loads everything almost instantaneously. I don't trust Google either. Their 'cookies' that their site sends to the user machine have spyware in them and I don't trust their browser at all.

[Kralik]

I've tried it, and posted a similar thread here the day it came out. Since then, I've gone back to Firefox. Why? EXTENSIONS. I use quite a few, but most important is AdBlockPlus. Can't surf without it.

Firefox 3.1's Javascript engine and the new WebKit (Safari) are both faster than Chrome's. Great for competition...

The best thing Chrome has going for it is the fact that each tab runs as a separate process. The worst thing: Google watches your browsing habits to send targeted ads to you. Meh.

[Kralik]

The tests were all done by Google so I doubt it.

Well, they are specifically measuring V8, the new Javascript engine. But both FF and Safari will be surpassing those benchmarks in their upcoming releases.

[Gate Troll]

Funny, I actually use Firefox version 2.0.0.17 as I haven't upgraded to Firefox 3.0.

[Centurion]

I have even my dump of a machine can load things quicker with it.

[Elessar's Socks]

I use quite a few, but most important is AdBlockPlus. Can't surf without it.

Adblock Plus is an elegant weapon for a more civilized age! My Notepad-resizing days are over.

I think my first choice would be Tab Mix Plus for all the customization options. It's convenient being able to load my home page on a new tab, since it contains links to all the sites I frequent (although IE can do it out of the box).

Have you tried Firebug? Nice way of inspecting websites--using it to pick up some HTML, and probably barely scratching its surface.

[Ulmo]

My fave addons are Web Developer, Codetch, 1-ClickWeather, CoolIris Previews, Dictionary Search, Footie Fox, IE Tab, Javascript Deugger

ES, do you use FF 3.0.x?  If so, how did you get Firebug to work, mine has been disabled since I installed FF 3.0.

[Elessar's Socks]

ES, do you use FF 3.0.x?  If so, how did you get Firebug to work, mine has been disabled since I installed FF 3.0.

A version compatible with FF 3 was released, here. And yes I do--the memory leaks in FF 2 were driving me nuts!

[Ulmo]

A version compatible with FF 3 was released, here. And yes I do--the memory leaks in FF 2 were driving me nuts!

Thanks, I have missed it.  Very helpful when debugging my web pages.

[Kralik]

Here's my ridiculous list of extensions: Adblock Plus, Better Gmail 2, Chromifox, Download Statusbar, Edit Middle, Exit Button Firefox, Extended Statusbar, FireFTP, Fission, Hide Menubar, IE Tab, Locationbar2, LogMeIn, NoScript, Prism, Stop-or-Reload Button, Stylish, and Tabs Open Relative. I have a few things setup to make it mimic the Chrome interface (which I love): Colors via Chromifox, tabs on tab via Stylish, and a small script I wrote to hide the titlebar completely (hence the Exit Button addon). Here's a quick picture of the top of my browser; other than that, there are no other toolbars (and no bottom statusbar).

I love minimalistic designs.

[Celebrimbor]

I've dug up a lot more dirt on Chrome lately...

When running chrome I get continuous, non-stopping disk queries to my hard drive, plus the network icon on my taskbar shows constant internet activity  (which could be an automatic Chrome update).  This gets very annoying, and makes me think I have a virus until I close Chrome.  In addition I can find no way to force chrome to save a downloaded file to a custom location, instead of the default /my documents/downloads folder.

Despite these little quirks, we still have to remember chrome is still beta

Like Kralik, I love the minimalistic design.  The automatic spell-checking works well, not to mention chrome runs very stable and has never crashed, unlike firefox and IE which lock up occasionally.

EDIT:  Why use adblock plus?  A more efficient (although geeky) method to block ads is to loopback domain names to 127.0.0.1 in your hosts file.  This file is located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.  Here's a great article Here

[Kralik]

IIRC, Chrome "phones home" often, and it also precaches DNS information on each webpage's links. Should explain somewhat the extra network activity.

As for using a hosts file: I know what they are, and have used them, and they are not NEARLY as effective as AdBlockPlus. Sure, if you have no other choice, go for them. For example, I manage the network at a local school where most of the staff use IE. Custom hosts file on the router keeps some ads away.

The beautiful part of AdBlockPlus is the EasyElement list which blocks inline ads. I subscribe to EasyList+EasyElement and it will block ads that could not be caught by a hosts file. For exampe: GMail delivers inline ads that are coming from mail.google.com. Now, obviously, I cannot block that domain or I cannot access my webmail! Yet AdBlockPlus will block them based on the stylesheet references and such. Smart stuff.

[Celebrimbor]

OK adblock is more sophisticated than methinks.