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It’s Saturday  night, and like last night, I find myself with some extra time on my hands. Time being a precious commodity these days, I think I will take this opportunity to write about Google Chrome, the free web browser available for download. As of this writing, Chrome isn’t available for Apple OSX or Linux yet. I do a lot of work on my Linux machine, so I was interested in whether or not I could download and install Chrome onto my Ubuntu Jaunty installation. Google’s download page recognized that I was running Linux and informed me that they are currently working on a Linux version of Chrome. The page offered to put me on the Chrome mailing list to notify me when the Linux version becomes available. I’m interested, so I signed up with my junk mail Email address.

The fact is, Chrome is now in stable release, but unfortunately, is currently only available for Windows XP and Vista which is a dissapointment for all the Macintosh devotee’s and Penguin’s out there. Why Google didn’t hit the market with simultaneous releases for Mac and Windows is a mystery to me. IE is sluggish with a really big footprint, and Safari shares the size issue to a lesser extent. I am speculating that releasing Chrome to Linux presents some unique challenges due to it’s Unix like permission structure and strongly enforced security rules. These functions are an integral part of the kernel so I can cut Google some slack. It’s best to be patient  in order to get a really good, stable release for Linux.

Initially, I really didn’t like chrome, and didn’t pay much attention to it, going back to work in Firefox. Fortunately, curiosity got the best of me, and I came back to Chrome to give it a closer look and a serious workout. Strangely, the very thing that makes the Gnome desktop for Linux my favorite GUI (graphic user interface), is exactly what initially turned me off to Chrome. Like the Gnome desktop, Chrome has been designed to emphasize function over flash although there are enough bells and whistles to treat the eyes without getting in the way. This lack of excess pizazz means a leaner, faster application.

And Chrome is fast. Very fast.

Chrome isn’t the beast that Internet explorer is, and it’s smaller than the others are . It weighs in at just under nine megabytes; these are the specs.

The Minimalist design is apparent in subtle ways that actually make it easier to use, although you won’t be familiar with the functioning at first. Most browsers share pretty much the same characteristics on the front end. You expect to see a tool bar, or two, or three. You expect to see a monster options menu to micromanage every imaginable aspect of the browser functioning, yet strangely, even those options tend to be very similar. You will immediately look for the familiar, “file, edit, view, history” menu bar found in just about every application. Surprise! it’s not there.

You won’t find these things in Chrome, and it’s what lost my interest at first glance. I so expected to see the familiar browser and window interfaces, that not having them was disconcerting. When I gave Chrome a chance to fully show the design to me, I realized that it’s the lack of this unnecessary eye candy that trims off the bloat and sluggish performance. The great thing is that Chrome has some goodies that are fun, practical, and frankly surprising.

Chrome has no toolbar and you don’t really need it. You open a new tabbed window  by clicking the plus sign next to the most recent tab opened. You close it by clicking the “x” on the tab. Back, Forward, reload, home. Those things you use the most, are where you expect them to be, and there’s nothing else there to distract you. The address bar acts like you would expect, but it also serves as an input field for a search engine. To the left of the address bar is a star icon that you click to bookmark a page. A wrench icon brings up a menu of options for Chrome, and they’re basic. You don’t have to, or need to, think about all the stuff other browsers present you in the settings screen. It’s very lightweight. In addition, that familiar menu, ”file, edit, view, history, print, cut, copy, etc”  is conspicuously absent. If you need to do any of these things, right click or use a small page icon next to the wrench. That’s it. It’s just that simple. No obnoxious real estate hogging  toolbar.

Back to speed. At this time in the web arms race, Chrome is quite simply the fastest browser. Some browsers periodically mangle web pages to make Salvador Dali proud. Not Chrome.

Google provides a library of themes, like “skins”, that it will download and install when you choose from the theme screen. I have the brushed metal, which is kind of Safari-like. The tabs are drag and drop. You can move the whole tabbed window off the tab bar and put it anywhere on the screen, resizing it as you like, or changing the contents. Google has added a feature in Chrome called “Incognito”. It opens a tabbed screen that allows you to surf without any information being stored in your history, bookmarks, or cookies. It dosen’t prevent other servers from gathering data when you go to their sites, but it does provide a level of privacy by preventing data from being placed in your catch. When a new window is created, Chrome starts a new process. Security is enhanced by limiting permissions. Windows are not permitted to share data between them.

It may just be my imagination, but I have to say I think that Chrome handles video smoother than other browsers. Youtube videos look crisper, and when I watched a web cast of the guild, the picture seemed to be more clear.

Google has a winner here. When you start Chrome for the first time it properly imports your bookmarks. You can start using Chrome right away, and the small adjustment period is well worth it. I really like Chrome.

It’s simple. It’s lightweight, and it’s fast.