Nathan Exposed » Geek Speak with Google Chrome

Google is about to launch the first public beta of its new browser, called Chrome.

Here are some of the key features Chrome brings to the table:

Stability

Even the strongest of browsers will crash if one of the open pages has something wrong with it. Heavy graphics, faulty javascript files, large video files, etc. Browsers, as they exist in their current form, depend on all components to work harmoniously. If something isn’t working right, it can take down the whole ship.

Google has split all of these components up so they load independently. If one object is hanging, the others will still load. Even though Firefox 3 is a very stable browser, I will admit the idea of having everything independent is a better idea.

Tabbed Browsing

The ability to open multiple websites in separate tabs has been around for years. But the average web user still does not understand how they work, why they work, or why they matter. That’s because you have your browser buttons, address bar, and all that stuff at the top, and tabs are hidden below them, where many people don’t even pay attention to them.

Google splits the tabs up at the very top so they look like real folder tabs, the way they should. I think this simple aesthetic feature will be much easier for people to grasp so they can thumb through multiple pages just like they would in their filing cabinet.

Further more, Chrome handles all tabs independently. If one page crashes, only the tab is affected. The other open pages remain stable. Niiiice.

More Compatible with More Websites

Google keeps updated caches of millions, billions, trillions of websites. This is one advantage nobody has, not even Microsoft. They have the whole internet in their pocket. So they can send out a spider to all these sites and see which ones their browser tested poorly on and why. Then they can take this data, look for patterns, and squash the bug quickly.

Smarter Search

The address bar was made for typing addresses. But the public has spoken and just about every person I know searches for keywords instead of typing in direct web URL’s. Google knows this, understands this, and is willing to go along with what people want.

The address bar is now called Omnibox and you can use it for a direct website address or use it to search. As soon as you start typing in the bar, Google will start searching the web to try and guess what you are looking for. It then makes suggestions, or if it gets a match, will show you the exact page you’re looking for.

Other browsers has been able to do this using plug-ins, but Google is the first to combine the search bar and the address bar in a way that works best for the average user.

Privacy Mode (A.K.A. “Porn Mode”)

Want to look at a site but don’t want it to be logged in your history or cookies? You can now turn on Privacy mode and Google will dump the session when you close the tab. Google uses the example of shopping for a surprise gift, but many people are jokingly referring to this as the mode for looking up porn.

Security

All browsers strive for security, and most modern browsers do a pretty good job of protecting its users. But once again, Google has the resources to stay on top of dangerous websites faster than anyone else. Because they basically power internet search, they will be the first to know about a site that can put you at risk if you visit it. As a result, they can warn you before you enter the site and block anything that might be hazardous. And I must admit, I don’t see any way for other web browsers to beat Google in this arena. Only Google has the resources to monitor the web this closely.

That concludes my long, geeky introduction to Chrome. The browser will be available to test on September 2, for Windows only right now. Thankfully I have a copy of Windows XP to try it out on. And a version for Mac and Linux are promised in the near future (as we would expect).

(Screenshot found on Google Blogoscoped)

Mon, Sep 1, 2008 @ 11:20 pm | Filed in Technology | Permalink

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