State of the Browser: Chrome closes on Firefox, IE6 dying out

In the continuing browser wars, 2011 was a bad year for Microsoft and Mozilla. Google was the big success, nearly doubling its market share.

<a href='http://meincmagazine.com/business/news/2012/01/state-of-the-browser-chrome-closes-on-firefox-ie6-dying-out.ars'>Read the whole story</a>

 

[RicDavis]

I'd like to hear from some of Chrome's more articulate evangelicals: why do you like it, and what makes you recommend it to others?


.

excellent, invisible patching process; I've a high degree of confidence that the browser is patched up to date.

The multiprocess model means that with multiple tabs open you get good use out of multicore processors, unlike Firefox. Similarly, when opening a folder full of bookmarks in individual tabs, the multiple rendering processes means all the cores on my quad core machine are properly busy.

The combination of bundled flash player and pdf reader with the prompt patching process means I don't have to worry about keeping up with flash and acrobat reader updates to have a secure browsing experience. There's a flash block add on if if I don't want flash running without permission.

The built in spell checker. One less thing to have to set up on a machine I'm using temporarily, and with the move to web based applications, it's essential to have this to maintain a professional appearance.

The process manager so if I've hundreds of tabs open it is easy to track down specific CPU hogging tabs and kill them to save laptop battery for example, yet when I need to interact with them again, I typically just need to reload them

Chrome, IE and FF have pros and cons. For me, Chrome has the fewest significant cons, followed by FF. IE I only use if I can't use either of the other two.

 

[RicDavis]

I use FF with Google Toolbar. I'd like to switch to Chrome, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get my Google Bookmarks into Chrome (you'd think it'd be obvious, but I've wasted way too much effort on this already). The bookmarks are stored in my Google Acct, and I can't figure out how to sync them with Chrome (the sync feature don't import the bookmarks from my account when I sign in - People point towards extensions such as Xmarks, which I don't want).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks--FF

Googling for "bookmarks from google toolbar to chrome" gives

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/T ... 1d24&hl=en

which says:

"1. Sign in to your Google Account by clicking Sign In on the Toolbar.
2. Click the down arrow next to the Bookmarks button.
3. Select Manage All.
4. Select the Tools menu in the uper right-hand corner.
5. Select Export as Bookmarks.
6. Save the file.

Importing to Google Chrome:

1. Click the Tools menu in Google Chrome.
2. Select Bookmark manager.
3. Click the Tools menu in the manager.
4. Select Import bookmarks.
5. Select the HTML file saved from the first step, then click Open.
"

in a post by 'Maggie' who is a google employee.

 

[RicDavis]

There remains no reason at all to use MSIE as far as I can see.

You can rely on it being on a Windows PC in almost any circumstances, and it gets patched by MS, so unlike firefox, an organization that doesn't give users local admin rights doesn't have to worry about patching it in some fashion.

 

[RicDavis]

the search/url bar together is really a boon to efficiency

Sorry, but I literally don't understand how this is true. I don't see how putting your search term in the search box is less efficient than putting your search term in the address bar.

It means you can just start typing about what you're interested in, without having to pause to consider if it is a URL or something that you're intending to google, an din the latter case remember to press ctrl k, or worst case, take your hands off the kbd and use a pointing device to move the insertion point.

It removes the need for a little bit of thinking. When you spend 5 or 6 hours a day using the web for research, anything that reduces the amount of mental effort involved in the mechanics of it is appealing.

 

[RicDavis]

A quick googling for "chrome bundle" shows that:

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/30/flash- ... pi-coming/

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... layer.html

So yeah, much of the Chrome "growing" is due bundling.

The first one is discussing bundling flash into chrome, not the other way round.

The second one is from early 2009, nearly three years ago, and is bundling chrome with realplayer. I doubt that is responsible for any recent growth somehow.

 

[RicDavis]

the search/url bar together is really a boon to efficiency

Sorry, but I literally don't understand how this is true. I don't see how putting your search term in the search box is less efficient than putting your search term in the address bar.

It means you can just start typing about what you're interested in, without having to pause to consider if it is a URL or something that you're intending to google, an din the latter case remember to press ctrl k, or worst case, take your hands off the kbd and use a pointing device to move the insertion point.

It removes the need for a little bit of thinking. When you spend 5 or 6 hours a day using the web for research, anything that reduces the amount of mental effort involved in the mechanics of it is appealing.

Kinda screws with the whole "I want to keep record of sites I manually type in, but I don't want my browser keeping what I search for in case someone else uses my computer" thing though.

Agreed. I think the introduction of profiles in the latest version of Chrome may be a solution to this, I've not looked as it's not an issue to me. Other people using a computer I use other people's accounts, not mine.

 

[RicDavis]

Adobe Reader/Flash/Shockwave download pages ask you to opt-out of downloading an installer that installs Chrome. You have to UNCHECK the option and then you can download a clean installer. Speed clickers will get Chromed.

I've just tried this in FF on 7 x64, and Shockwave doesn't offer me anything, and Reader and Flash offer me McAfee Security Scan plus. No shiny there for me at least.

 

[RicDavis]

Or chrome being advertised/bundled with google search. I've encountered people who didn't even know what it was, they just installeg it because it was from google and on the search page.

That's not bundling. That's providing a download link for a product the company offers on their home page. I don't think there's much difference between that and a 'download itunes' link on Apple.com, or a download Flash, Adobe reader etc link on Adobe.com.

 

[RicDavis]

Or chrome being advertised/bundled with google search. I've encountered people who didn't even know what it was, they just installeg it because it was from google and on the search page.

That's not bundling. That's providing a download link for a product the company offers on their home page. I don't think there's much difference between that and a 'download itunes' link on Apple.com, or a download Flash, Adobe reader etc link on Adobe.com.

So, if microsoft had put a small script to go download ie when clicking on internet explorer on the desktop, that would not have been bundling? Google's search is their main platform, which commands a large percentage of search and is one of the most visited websites. As I mentioned before, it is effectively bundling it for a lot of people who don't know much of anything about computers.

I'm at a loss how discussing automatically downloading another copy of IE when I run the local copy of IE already installed on my desktop relates to actually having to actively click on a link reading 'install #####' to install ####. One is an expected result of clicking on a link labelled install, the other is running a local application, and unexpectedly having something downloaded with no warning.

I don't see how a link on a company home page labelled 'install ####' can be described as deceptive, if what it does is install ####

I'm not interested in the failures of people who can't comprehend that clicking on a link reading 'install #####' will install ####, but I wish they didn't have an internet connection.

Possibly I have excessive expectations of the rest of humanity, but many of them can pick governments, which I'd hope is a greater responsibility than picking a web browser.

 

[RicDavis]

Well, you're wrong, I downloaded software were you have to click on the "I agree to the user agreement" and then had to unclick "install Chrome" and "make Chrome my prefered browser".

The software I download is not Bonzi Buddie or animated smiley icons. Apparently Google is paying these companies.

Can you list the software that you've done this with recently?