Google’s browser called Chrome is out of the box and of course, we had to take a look. So after a quick download and a quick install, we started to browse the web just to see how it feels. And right now, it doesn’t feel very different from Firefox 3. Chrome might be a little faster, but it’s hard to tell on a fast computer. Also, my Google Chrome does not have any plug-ins installed right now. Overall, the first impression is good. This is something that I will continue to play with, although I suspect that I will keep my Firefox 3 around until Chrome has equivalent plug-ins, which is the real value of Firefox.
Now there are all kinds of cool architectural ideas around Google Chrome, but right now, they don’t matter so much to me. It’s not like Firefox 3 is a horrible piece of junk that crashes every 10 minutes. The new architecture might pay off down the road, but right now, I don’t see a strong case for switching.
There’s one highlight that we would like to point to: Chrome can consume considerably less memory than Firefox 3. In our tests. This means that Chrome might be more suitable for Nettops than Firefox, and this might be the most obvious benefit of Google’s software architecture for Chrome. How do YOU like it?
Site | Chrome (MB) | Firefox 3 (MB) |
Ubergizmo | 49 | 53 |
Google.com | 26 | 45 |
Yahoo News | 37 | 50 |
Filed in Hands-On.
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