Reviewing the reviews of Google's Chrome

Forget the Detroit Auto Show. There are plenty of Chrome watchers in Mountain View, Calif.

With Google's on Tuesday, an onslaught of reviews followed. And the results largely point to a speedy machine, but one not without its flaws.

Don Reisinger's blog on TechCrunch not only applauds the speed of the browser, but also its simplicity:

The first thing that will strike you about Chrome is its soft, yet elegant interface. Unlike other browsers, which sport clutter, Chrome doesn't do anything of the sort. Instead, it makes tabs the primary element of the software, which can be dragged around and moved as needed on the fly. You can already do that in Safari, but in Chrome, it's simply much easier.

But closely followed technology reviewer Walt Mossberg of All Things Digital noted that while Chrome beats Microsoft's Internet Explorer on speed, it doesn't do the same when compared with Firefox or Safari on such frequent tasks as launching Web pages.

And Mossberg's takeaway? Here's his 10,000-foot view:

My verdict: Chrome is a smart, innovative browser that, in many common scenarios, will make using the Web faster, easier and less frustrating. But this first version--which is just a beta, or test, release--is rough around the edges and lacks some common browser features Google plans to add later. These omissions include a way to manage bookmarks, a command for e-mailing links and pages directly from the browser, and even a progress bar to show how much of a Web page has loaded.

A similar sentiment was expressed by John Brandon, in his Computerworld blog. The Chrome reviewer had some reservations:

Chrome has not crashed on me at all. What it has done is make me want to switch back to Firefox to do some "real" work. I can't really explain why. I don't like the tabs being above the address bar because it feels like they are floating in space. Little things bug me. I can drag-and-drop a URL onto the "bookmark bar" but I can't click and hold on the Gmail icon and drag it there, like you can with Firefox. The icon for Chrome looks too much like the one for Google Desktop and not that distinct. I like having a separate search box, and having just one for URLs and search is jarring.

And security concerns have arisen in the early review returns. Ryan Naraine and Dancho Danchev made this observation in their Zero Day blog on ZDNet:

Just hours after the release of Google Chrome, researcher Aviv Raff discovered that he could combine two vulnerabilities--a flaw in Apple Safari (WebKit) and a Java bug discussed at this year's Black Hat conference--to trick users into launching executables direct from the new browser.

As a result, some folks may want to wait for the follow-on model...

[palpatine2000]

Here's another great review, including installation steps, features, and some speed benchmarks to compare the browser with what's currently available online.

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2008/09/02/google-chrome-beta-released-for-windows/

[ltqn23]

Below is a user experience review of Google Chrome Beta 1:

http://www.onefamilysblog.com/2008/09/google-chrome-web-browser-beta-1-user.html

[stigmattaman]

The single search/URL bar is amazing. Yes, it takes some time to get used to, but it's far more elegant and useful than a separate search bar.

[Tergon]

". But this first version--which is just a beta, or test, release--is rough around the edges and lacks some common browser features Google plans to add later." LOL, All Google product are perpetual Betas. However from the Reviews, what I've noticed is that they took some features from all the current browsers (including ie8b2). People keep talking about how this might be a competition for ie but I see it more as a threat for safari (or for safari on Windows and ie on MAC). The only feature that really seems interesting to me, that I'm not already getting from Firefox or ie is the ability to separate the tabs from the browser and (in effect) create a new browser window.

[pjshane]

Chrome install quickly, but will not launch. From desktop icon, get hourglass for a couple seconds and then nothing. There is no error message, just nothing.

It will not uninstall from the control panel either.

[fldragon]

I have exactly the same issue after the install. It will not run or uninstall. I am running XP Media Edition, SP3, and I have tried several things to no avail.

[fjvwing]

As a free-lancer, I can't use Google Chrome:

http://www.techsociotech.com/2008/09/google-chrome-nsfw.html

I know I can switch that NSFW setting off, but by default Chrome has the potential to embarrass.

[jigudamehta]

Great speed but cannot add Extensions

Pros: amazing speed, was really happy wid d speed it loaded pages. good light layout.
faster browsing.
Cons: cannot load extensions
form fill history missing
did not transfer all my usernames n password
still some work to do.
Summary: Firefox rocks. as of now there is no match to Firefox.
specially wid all d extensions n themes its ultimate browsing exp.
BYE BYE internet explorer.u r left behind in this browser war.
Microsoft just check d polls conducted

[sojmed]

I've been using it all day - it's easy and fast and gets rid of the clutter, however it seems to have glitches for example in Yahoo mail I find I can't send an attachment and another on-line mailer I use won't open at all. However, for quick, problem-free browsing it beats even Firefox.

[pjshane]

Chrome install quickly, but will not launch. From desktop icon, get hourglass for a couple seconds and then nothing. There is no error message, just nothing.

It will not uninstall from the control panel either.

[mnkhanzaida]

i am trying chrome, apparently it is working superbly, faster, easy, simple, i may like it the more i get acquainted .

[d130n232]

I tested bookmark deletion, and found that deleting an imported Firefox bookmark doesn't delete the bookmark in Firefox.

[QUAKERDOOMER]

Google Chrome version 0.2.149.27
First View :

1 ] Looks very feminine

2 ] Fast and Quick

3 ] Private Browsing - Incognito Pages

4 ] Has an advanced Gogole Chrome Task manager and memory statistics (about:memory)

5 ] Good view-source:http://www.hp.com/ (View Source Option) with line numbers

6 ]Doesn't save webpages (full) as .mht but saves it like the legacy IE way.

7 ] Has chrome-source (Inspect Element) option to examine every component on the page

8 ]Keeps on contacting im-YY-fXXX.google.com where X = some number and YY = country Short Prefix
eg. im-uk-f123.google.com

9 ] On every GET request the User-Agent sent is
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/525.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/0.2.149.27 Safari/525.1

10 ] Has stolen "Duplicate Tab" option from opera but doesn't duplicate in the same window, instead opens a new Window

11 ] http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html READS :

2. Accepting the Terms
2.1 ..
2.2 ..
2.3 ..
2.4 Before you continue, you should print off or save a local copy of the Universal Terms for your records.
2.5 ..

12 ] Lacks a good Full Screen View Option

[QUAKERDOOMER]

Google Chrome : The perfect password offering ( Tested on pair.com Webmail, might work on
others as well )

1 ] Goto webmail.pair.com
Pair Webmail provides https and doesn't have any option on its page to save password.

2 ] Enter your username. Enter a false (incorrect) password

3 ] Allow Chrome to save password ( It will prompt below the address bar)

4 ] Now try again and this time Login user your real credentials

5 ] Open a few emails, if possible in a new tab

6 ] Sign out and close Chrome

7 ] Locate
X:\Documents and Settings
Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User
Data\Default\Current Session ( Path might be different in Vista )
and change directory using the command prompt to the above path

8 ] Note that the "Current Session" file needs to be present in your "\Application
Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\" directory

9 ] Fire this command in cmd : find "&secret" "Current Session"

10 ] If you have reached till this stage you can see that its stored in clear text.

11 ] Screenshot attached : Chrome_Password_Current_Sessions_ClearText.png
Uh! Cannot attach !!
Contact for a demo video if you can't manage to pull this.

[sleep_heavy]

I have tried it and took the browser for a test drive. There is very disappointing and very annoying add-on that totally whacked my system--- The veritable GOOGLEUPDATE.EXE just totally upset my browsing experience completely because it was getting in the way of the setup in my zone alarm firewall.

With that going on, was that when I open another browser like Firefox I also encountered the same problem. The bug was slowing down and freezing up the browser till it crashes and I had to do a relaunch. It got so bad that I had to remove the browser all together. In the removal process I had to get into my registry and clean out the awful mess the GOOGLEUPDATE.EXE was doing in my registry. It was wreaking havoc and acting like a malware carnival from hell.

Even with the file removed the update bug was still pinging my firewall. At this moment Chrome is google's imagination of the browser it wished it can do. For now it does not even come close to crapfari or opera or my firefox.

If google guys are reading this I want to suggest that they should at least give people the courtesy of asking people if they wana download this dorky annoying googleupdate.exe file.

I think google pack also contains this annoying bug. I won't try that out either. No way. And, I am not gonna come back on this beta and re install and try this again.

[edgarlazzo]

I think Google has done it again and delivered a good alternative to the other well established main stream browsers such as IE and Firefox. I am personally concern about the privacy issues I am hearing about data collection being sent back to Google.

[yordrib]

Have been using Chrome since it was released but have found it has not intergrated all of my web addresses, eg in media the top 5 url's are missing and also some on the bottom are missing.
Have not checked all of my other folders yet.

[Windy Road Junkie]

Using it and still debating if it's a keeper. I'm not sure that I like the recent bookmarks displayed on the browser page.

[katealene]

Can't find the "send page (or link) by email" function.

Unhappy in new mexico.

[Niseb]

on my experiences as a web designer on google chrome are as follows:

Positives:
----Unbelievably fast. Way faster than any other browser I have used. (firefox, opera, internet explorer, safari)
----Very elegant and gets the job done at the same time. A very hard combination to pull off. Once used to it, its a beautiful breeze.
----Google search bar IS the address bar. That is amazing. I love that, I cant use another browser without taking that idea for granted now.
----Automatically has my passwords and usernames once the website is up. Great work. I don't have to type a single thing. Just sign in and go.
----Perfect destruction of pop-up ads


Negatives:

----for some reason when I have specifically ONE image on my chrome, I right click it to click: Save Picture As.. I go to save it, and it will save as an unopenable file. However... if I write: .jpg after each picture it will work just fine. a minor bug and should be fixed soon enough.

----I cannot keep my history deleted. Every time I sign off of google chrome I have to go into the options and click clear all data of all time... EVERY TIME. thats rediculous. have like a checkbox saying: "always clear data when I sign off of chrome."

----sometimes when I click 'copy' on an image and paste it onto another program it will sometimes paste not the image but the url of the image. of course this doesnt happen all the time and I dont know what would cause that.

[lilykudrow]

A good read
Is google Chrome innovation or emulation?
http://www.techunits.com/content/2026/is_google_chrome_innovation_or_emulation?