Chrome by Google

[Sieg]

I see Google has a browser called "Chrome".

Anyone downloaded and tried it yet? Comments?

Sieg

[Dave A]

It came up on a webmasters forum I frequent. I had a peek but no-one had tried it yet and I'm not queuing up to volunteer as guinea pig on this one. It's a Beta, so it is for the adventurous at this point. I'll stick to stuff I stand a reasonable chance of debugging when it comes to playing with betas.

My hope at the moment is that it won't be too quirky. As it is, there are enough material differences between the existing browsers you need to dance your way through when it comes to coding for interactivity. This could be one more headache, although I hope not.

If I hear anything interesting, I'll be sure to pass it in here.

Anyone tried it out here? Any comments?

[Harryf]

Yep, I tried it for fun. I thought it less user friendly and with less options than IE7 after a while of trying as much as I can think of - but being a "plattelandse" boertjie, what the bleep do I know?

The favourites is definitely not as useful as that of IE7, for one. What did I like? Can't think of anything, actually. Did I really dislike it? No, can't say that I did. Could one get used to it if open source is your way to do things? Probably. Compared to Mozilla Firefox (is this correct?) - I don't know.

I used it to go into my bank this morning, used the keypads etc and suddenly wondered about security - and logged off - even closed the thinh! hehe - hope I haev money tomorrow!

I'll just stick with IE7 for now - that way, at least, I don't have to learn something new - something that did not "WOW" me up front.

That's my few cents' worth!

Harry

[GlitchFreak]

http://www.google.com/chrome

I downloaded it 3 hours after it was released on the 2nd. I must say very fast and lightweight. I enjoyed the fact that it opens up quickly and has a clean, uncluttered interface.

Also, there are a few new features brought to browsers and some refined ones too.

You can view the story here http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/

Rather interesting to see why they came up with the features they did.

Bear in mind that it is still in beta stages so it misbehave sometimes. Wouldn't recommend it for serious applications yet (e.g. Banking, etc)

Give it a try if you bored. Knowing Google, "revolutionary" is the direction they moving towards and they might just do it

[Dave A]

Apparently, you don't have to enter a search in a seperate box. You put whatever into the the URL bar, and if it is not a URL - voila - instant search results.

Everyone seems very impressed with it's speed.

[Dave A]

It might be an idea to hold back on playing with Chrome too much for now. I've just picked up this news:

Google has released a new Windows web browser called 'Chrome' but on its first day as a Beta release, a security researcher has already discovered a 'carpet-bombing' vulnerability that could expose Windows users of the new browser to serious security attacks. This is the same vulnerability that was originally discovered in Apple’s Safari browser four months ago.

In May 2008, Microsoft issued a Microsoft Security Advisory (953818) urging Windows users not to use Apple's web browser. It is unclear whether Microsoft will do the same for Windows users of Chrome browser. Apple patched the flaw with Safari v3.1.2 in June and Safari is now secure from that flaw.

Hackers could exploit carpet-bombing flaw and combine two vulnerabilities “…a flaw in Apple Safari's WebKit and a Java bug to trick users into launching a malicious executable file directly from the new browser.”

However, 'Chrome' is still in the early beta stage, bugs and security vulnerabilities are certain to be discovered and reported in the coming days or weeks. Early adopter 'Chrome' users should be cautious about what they look at with the new browser whilst it is in the Beta phase of testing. In particular, steer clear of suspicious web sites to minimise the chances of being attacked by pop-up downloads, dialers and viruses. Google is expected to issue a patch for the vulnerabilty soon as the Beta programme rolls forward.

W E B L I N K S
Palluxo:
Apple Safari Carpet Bomb Flaw Hits Google Chrome Browser : Palluxo! Mac Dose of All Things Apple

PC Magazine: Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari Shared Vulnerability - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

There are also some privacy points in the EULA that might be worth a close look so you know what you're getting into. Apparently there is an option to opt-out of the feedback to the big G, though.

[xslaveus]

Would have liked to try it but unfortunately its a windows web browser. Thats what i dont understand, why do you need to make a web browser platform dependant. For us people using linux this is a nightmare, although we do have our share of web browser that function well in a linux environment.

[garthu]

So of those now using chrome, hows it going? Tried it for the last couple of days and seems fine. Like it in fact. Very fast and pretty simple and a few feature once you get used to could be alright. Security? has it been resolved??

[IanF]

Garth
I use chrome, I have found that FNB internet banking didn't work to well. So I use IE for that. Has anyone found an FTP addon for it yet?

[irneb]

Would have liked to try it but unfortunately its a windows web browser. Thats what i dont understand, why do you need to make a web browser platform dependant. For us people using linux this is a nightmare, although we do have our share of web browser that function well in a linux environment.

You mean something like that Java browser ... what was it called again ... HotJava from SUN ... but it's been discontinued - now that's OS independent, same program runs on any OS, no recompile needed. But then again FF is pretty much OS independent itself.

Anyway, tried the Chrome a while back. Due to security concerns I uninstalled it after 2 days. Comodo complained that it was accessing Internet while it was not listed in task manager. Constantly sending & receiving data directly after bootup & login ... it wasn't installed in StartUp or under the Run portions in Registry so I couldn't figure out how it was running itself.

And then when I uninstalled, I got a big It opened the "Why don't you like us" page in IE (even though FF was my default). Then after completing the comment it stated they'd get back to me about fixing the problem ...... ..... I have not given any contact details during install, use, uninstall or above mentioned feedback. I was very particular not to log in to any websites using Chrome (still Beta), an even did not enter any data except for searches (in Google ) ... so now I don't touch it with a barge pole!

[twinscythe12332]

very scary. I went to our main site, typed in details, then went to my development site. it remembered the username. not cool. oh and by the way, if anyone is wondering, I did a little test. in C# you can get the browser's name and version using a string like this:
System.Web.HttpBrowserCapabilities browser = Request.Browser;
lblDescription.Text = browser.Browser + " " + browser.MajorVersion;
now take a check at what "google chrome" says it is:


AppleMAC-Safari 5 (sorry about size of image)

no wonder there were issues the instant it came out

if you're wondering why I chopped out half the page, sensitive company info.

[garthu]

I have reset to Firefox. There a few things not liking and security could still be an issue as well. Pity as overall was getting into it. Simple thing is when multiple tabs are open and you close it, it allows without query. Problem being with that i keep closing pages i dont want to

[irneb]

I have reset to Firefox. There a few things not liking and security could still be an issue as well. Pity as overall was getting into it. Simple thing is when multiple tabs are open and you close it, it allows without query. Problem being with that i keep closing pages i dont want to

Since you're back in FF (assuming FF3), and you got this nasty habit (as I do) of closing tabs without wanting to. Try to install their add-on (think it's called Tab Mix Plus) - gives a few extra options in the Right-Click menu, one of which is Undo Close Tab.

[garthu]

Thank you, give it a bash!