Google Chrome

Well, now, this is something. I'm writing this post from within the new Google Chrome. Being a big Google fan boy, of course I wanted to download it the moment I started reading the comic that was posted yesterday. And, so, far, I have to say that I'm really impressed.

Considering that it's still very much in beta, the new browser is great. Web pages load quickly, almost as if cached. It's pretty. Very pretty. The interface is clean, and everything is pretty much right where it should be, and works exactly the way you'd expect a Google product to work. I like the way it highlights your current field, and the ability to resize large text boxes inline as well. Everything renders pretty well, so far, which is a given since it's built on WebKit. The inline spell check works pretty well so far, as well.

There's a few design elements I'm not big on, such as a lack of a home button. I understand that opening a new tab also opens your 'home' page, and honestly, I can't remember the last time I actually pressed home in Firefox, but it still seems like one of those comfort things that's sorely missing.

I'm also not liking the lack of options and customization. I like that it highlights fields, but I don't like that I can't customize the highlight color. Similarly, the way it pops up a small link at the bottom to tell where you're going is great, but it's very obtrusive, and the fact that it's gray is ok for most pages, but looks out of place in others (although, something I do like is that it will not cover a button, so if there's something at the bottom of the page, it keeps out of the way of the mouse, which is nice). I also see no options for plugins, yet, so, many of extensions and plugins I use on a regular basis won't be gracing this browser soon, and I wonder if Google, a company who's revenue comes mostly from advertising, would allow something like AdBlock Plus.

My biggest issue, one which seems to be shared by many, and is an absolute deal breaker at the moment: I can't scroll up. I can scroll down without issue, and that's great, because I love to scroll down. I spend most of my scrolling time scrolling down, but on occasion, it's really useful to be able to scroll up. It's terrible, because the cursor changes into scrolling mode, as if it knows what it's supposed to be doing, but nothing happens.

I understand the reason that Google's done this, and I'm curious how this is going to play out, as it seems their main target is Internet Explorer users, who need to learn that IE sucks, and is a terrible browser. The problem, as I see it, is that their more likely to just pull Firefox users into their fold simply because those users are more likely to try something that isn't already familiar, and will understand the reasons for using a better browser (as they've already done so by switching to Firefox). Sure, there's plenty of Internet Explorer users that use Google for searches instead of Live!, and will potentially switch once Google starts plugging their own browser, but they could just have easily plugged Firefox instead of just building a new browser from scratch. (Of course, I understand the other reasons for building a new browser, because the concept of this browser and the way it handles pages is very good.)

Now, I certainly believe that just about everything Google does is amazing, and I more than welcome this new browser on my computer. However, I can't see myself using it as my main browser yet, even if they fix the scrolling issue right away. It's a great first step, and I'll be keeping my eyes on it as time goes on, and I'm hoping it gets where it needs to be so that I can jump ship from Firefox, and get on board with Google (and being a hardcore Firefox fan, that's pretty hard to say).

Of course, with Google's history, I'm sure this thing will be in beta for quite awhile. (Seriously, I've been using Gmail since shortly after it was announced in 2004, and it still says beta under its name...)