Google Chrome first impressions

When Google came out with a “developer release” of Chrome for the Mac, I couldn’t resist having a look. I’m all too aware that it’s not even beta — it ate the first version of this post — but the download should still give some idea of where we’re headed.

The first thing I noticed is that it’s snappy, as if it were trying just a little bit harder to render the websites I visited. Of course, this always seems to be the case with a new browser or new version of a browser. It’s good to see, though, that Google is determined to give Apple a run for its money when it comes to speedy browsing.

I’ve grown accustomed to using Safari’s bookmarks sidebar over the years, so it was one of the things I immediately missed in Chrome. It quickly imported all of Safari’s settings, but you’re forced to drill down from a menu to find the bookmark you want.

I know all the cool kids are typing in the URL field these days, but what if you can’t remember the name of a site or just want to browse what you’ve bookmarked? Here’s hoping the final version does bookmarks in a way similar to — or better than? — Safari. At least we can hope it will be better than Firefox’s poor implementation.

Chrome tabs

Chrome definitely comes out ahead of Safari with tabs. Apple tried putting them on the top, but did it in such an awkward way that they were forced to backtrack. Chrome’s tabs are done in a manner that leaves plenty of room for you to grab the top of the window, and there’s no confusion over a single tab acting differently from multiple tabs. And all this is done without sacrificing any of the viewport’s vertical height. Good work.

Chrome themes

Overall, the look of the interface is one that Mac users will find acceptable, if a bit “toyish.” Already, it looks better than Firefox, which has struggled to fit in with the Mac experience. Strangely, Google felt compelled to offer various themes for Chrome. You can easily choose and install them from a gallery. I tried about 20, and couldn’t find anything that improved on the default. They look fine by themselves, but once applied they’re awful.

In the end, the developer preview isn’t much to go on at this point. But if this is a sign of things to come, Mac users should soon find themselves with another serious option for day-to-day web browsing. Looking forward to it.

date posted Posted Monday, October 26, 2009 in

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  1. In fact, you can show the bookmarks bar. It’s as well designed as the rest of Chrome. To show it, go to View→Always Show Bookmarks Bar.

    Will

  2. Thanks for the tip. But I was referring to what Safari calls “show all bookmarks.” You get a sidebar on the left with bookmark categories you can click on to show their contents to the right. Sorry I didn’t explain that better.

    Mark

  3. I’ve been using chrome since the initial developer’s version could be downloaded, and I will never go back. Of course, it’s still an Alpha version, so you might run across a site here or there that won’t work, but otherwise chrome is faster and has a cleaner look than anything I’ve ever used. At work, where I have to use a PC, I have been using chrome for the same reasons for a long time. Nothing compares if what you need to do is find and use Internet resources fast!

    John





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