Version: 2008

Comments on: Third Chrome beta due in days, Google says

After a hiatus of nearly two months, Google rids its open-source Web browser of a few bugs while improving performance and fixing some security issues.

Add a Comment (Log in or register) (29 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
by mjconver October 30, 2008 8:01 AM PDT
Does it have Adblock Plus yet?
Reply to this comment
by Shankland October 30, 2008 10:50 AM PDT
There's still no word on when Google will add an extensions ability, though they have promised it at some point in the future. Here's the issue request if you want to track it:

http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=18

Note: if you want Google to pay more attention to the issue, click the star to vote for its importance. Google pays attention to the number of people who've starred feature requests.
by mjconver October 30, 2008 2:39 PM PDT
Thanks, Stephen, but I meant my comment facetiously. Why would Google put out a browser that turned off its primary revenue stream? Can you imagine what the VP of sales would say to this feature? But we'll see...
by BIGELLOW October 31, 2008 7:09 AM PDT
Google already heavily promoted (and continues to heavily promote) Firefox, which is the browser that makes it really easy to block ads.

I think Google's take on this is... if there are people out there who dislike ads so much that they make sure to install special software to block every ad possible, then these are probably not the people Google's advertisers want seeing ads. What makes ads successful is by showing them to people who respond positively to the ads, not by showing them to people who get upset by the ads. Otherwise, it creates the opposite effect.

So, I think Google is perfectly fine with this. As such, I expect a plug-in system will be made available and that a third-party will write an ad-blocker using this plug-in system. Google is likely not going to promote it (as they are not going to want to actively solicit people to install the plug-in)... but they also aren't likely going to prevent it (in the way Sony thwarts PSP hackers from writing their own software for the system.)
by geolemon October 30, 2008 8:22 AM PDT
Does it fix the problem "Oops! Google chrome has crashed!" when simply opening the options menu on Windows XP x64? That's a fundamental bug!!
Reply to this comment
by Lerianis October 30, 2008 8:56 AM PDT
That isn't a bug that I have heard anyone except you complaining about. I'm running Google Chrome on Vista 64-bit, and I can open the options menu just fine on it..... though maybe some things have changed from XP to Vista that makes that happen.
by DnetMHZ October 30, 2008 8:34 AM PDT
Is there any time line on the Mac version?
Reply to this comment
by joetesta70 October 30, 2008 9:47 AM PDT
Yea - when the Mac reaches >5% market share, which is never. LOL!!!

This should be in the Mac vs PC commercial. Hi I'm a Mac, and I'm still waiting for software available on the PC.
by pellets007 October 30, 2008 12:29 PM PDT
I hope you realize that they, Apple, have almost 18% of the market, compared to Windows. They also have 33% of revenue per computer sold, in other words, one out of every three dollars is spent on a Mac.
by sonymaster101 October 30, 2008 5:09 PM PDT
@pellets007

you do realize that apple holds about 8%, and not your dream number 0f 18%, right?

keep in mind that Apple makes most of its money off of the overpriced hardware they sell, not the OS. Microsoft on the other hand, makes most of its money by selling software.
by pellets007 November 4, 2008 10:05 AM PST
No, I meant the retail market shares(US), which is 18%. Also, they really aren't that overpriced when you look at performance, not just specs. I'm sure Google would gain some valuable downloads, making Chrome available to Macs.
by seamonkey420 October 30, 2008 8:41 AM PDT
do they fix the horrible horrible Scroll Wheel bug?? where you can scroll down but not up???

to me, that is a very critical bug since almost every person has a scroll wheel or equivalent on their touchpad.
Reply to this comment
by seamonkey420 October 30, 2008 8:42 AM PDT
answered my own quesiton by checking.. and answer is.. YES! yay!
by FargoUT October 31, 2008 11:29 AM PDT
This is probably irrelevant at this point, but I do know that some programmer (since Chrome is open source) issued his own fix to correct the scroll wheel issue. I installed it when my touchpad's scroll function would not scroll up. That was frustrating, and kept me from using Chrome. But once I found a temporary fix, I began to use Chrome more and more. I'm pretty scattershot with my browser use -- I go from Chrome to Firefox to Flock to IE (I don't like using IE, but some websites just seem to require it, like NetFlix's "Watch Instantly" feature).

I'm glad Google has released Chrome. I really like the simplicity and uncluttered interface (as opposed to Flock, which takes up about a third of my screen real estate with various toolbars and social sidebars). If Chrome continues to run as quickly as it does, I'll continue using it for my primary browsing needs.
by JeffRutherford October 30, 2008 8:46 AM PDT
What about the Mac version?
Reply to this comment
by joetesta70 October 30, 2008 9:48 AM PDT
Yea - when the Mac reaches >5% market share, which is never. LOL!!!

This should be in the Mac vs PC commercial. Hi I'm a Mac, and I'm still waiting for software available on the PC.
by rec9140 October 30, 2008 8:55 AM PDT
Call me when the linux version is ready, till then this is not news.

Google remember YOUR using all those generic boxes RUNNING LINUX to power your searches so why the lack of support for what your company uses?????????

Linux!
Reply to this comment
by rapier1 October 30, 2008 10:42 AM PDT
I'm not sure what this has to do with anything. Let say that google is using linux on their backend. How does this have any bearing on what they release to their end users?
by BIGELLOW October 31, 2008 7:17 AM PDT
I think the point he is making is that Google "eats their own dog food," so to speak. So, when they release a product to their end users, they also created this product to use internally. They likely had many employees using the product before it was released as a beta to end users.

It is also very common for Google employees to use Linux or Macs... so, I don't believe he is referring to the "back end"... but the client machines each of their employees use.

So, this comment makes perfect sense. If the employees use a lot of Macs and Linux boxes, and they use their own products extensively, why wouldn't they support these systems right out of the gates?

The real answer, though, is their philosophy of supporting the larger community first, then working backward. The reality is, each employee is allowed to use whichever operating system they are comfortable with. It is likely that a large portion of Google employees use PCs for the simple fact that they have to make sure their products work well on PCs, since these are the majority of the market. Developers will usually mimic the customers they are developing for. So, it is not unusual for Google to release for the PC first... followed by the Mac... followed by Linux.
by cnet_user_0 October 30, 2008 9:05 AM PDT
Why reinvent the wheel? MSIE is the standard like it or not.
Reply to this comment
by tehscott October 30, 2008 1:30 PM PDT
Yes, but IE is terrible.
by quirK October 31, 2008 12:46 AM PDT
Thankfully some developers don't consider MSIE a standard. That would have been an insult to their intelligence, creativity and capabilities.
by joetesta70 October 30, 2008 9:48 AM PDT
Still no Mac version because the Mac has no market share. LOL!!!

This should be in the Mac vs PC commercial. Hi I'm a Mac, and I'm still waiting for software available on the PC.
Reply to this comment
by iff2mastamatt October 30, 2008 12:31 PM PDT
I like chrome (on it right now). Keep up the good work google!
Reply to this comment
by Pricey October 31, 2008 6:41 AM PDT
Google toolbar in this next beta??????
Reply to this comment
by ijerbell1 October 31, 2008 8:04 AM PDT
I love chrome. It loads so fast and is simple. I feel like IE has too much going on and it slows my system down... Its bad enough I have vista.
Reply to this comment
by fcs25 October 31, 2008 9:59 AM PDT
I have used the google browser and yes it is fast however the one major problem it has is popups.Google has not as of yet fixed it's popup control program.They pop up on web sites that when I use IE7 or Foxfire they don't.That tells me the problem is with the browser and not my computer.I deleted the browser because of this problem and will not use it again until it is fixed.
Reply to this comment
by _merantron_ October 31, 2008 7:07 PM PDT
No matter what it is better than IE.
Reply to this comment
by k12rswow November 8, 2008 3:43 PM PST
I like it.

www.StevesPcGamez.com
Reply to this comment
(29 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
advertisement

About Webware

Say No to boxed software! The future of applications is online delivery and access. Software is passé. Webware is the new way to get things done.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Webware topics

15 sites that went kaput in 2009

Web sites launch all the time, but they also shut their doors. We highlight 15 that bit the dust this year.

Top 10 news stories of the decade

Let the debate begin: Was the iPhone more important than iTunes? Was anything bigger than Google finding a great business model? CNET offers its list of the 10 most important stories of the '00s.