Since my dial up days, I've been pretty much married to Internet Explorer. Oh, sure, the hep cats came along with their fancy Firefox and all, but I'm a total Granny Clampett about all things computer. I don't want to learn any dad-blasted new-fangled contabulations on the computer machine. I'm willing to invest time in learning what I need to know for the work I do, and the rest I leave to those geekier and tweakier (and savvier) than I. Then Internet Explorer did the unforgivable: they changed. Or maybe I just caught up with them when I got a new computer. In any case, I was forced to learn something. So I poked around to see if I might learn something better. And I did.
Chrome is the browser launched at some point (I don't know when because I live in the word cave) by Google. Last year, when the beta testing was going on, PC World did an article listing 7 reasons for and 7 reasons against switching to Google Chrome. I think some evolution has taken place since the article was written, but here's the list with the response from someone who just wants to yank a chain and have the closet light come on.
PC World's Seven Reasons Chrome Could Be Cool
1. It won't crash.
PC World: “Perhaps Chrome's biggest draw is its multiprocess architecture…”
Joni: Thank you, Baby Jesus.
2. It's really fast.
PC World: blah blah blah multiprocess blah blah one slow site won't drag down the rest blah blah.
Joni: Vroom! Hey Jed, this is way faster!
3. You barely notice it's there.
PC World: “Calling the design of Chrome's interface streamlined is an understatement…”
Joni: Notice what?
4. It makes searching simpler.
PC World: “One of Chrome's signature features is its Omnibox, an integrated all-purpose bar … Omnibox can learn what you like, too--a talent that goes beyond the obvious automatic completion function.”
Joni: Google! Stop messing with my mind!
5. It gives you more control over tabs.
PC World: “blah blah tab configuration blah”
Joni: Okay, we’re coming dangerously close to learning something here. Don’t push it.
6. It opens new doors on your home page.
PC World: “Chrome comes with a default dynamic home page…”
Joni: I heart dynamic home page.
7. It lets you stay incognito.
PC World: “Chrome offers a private browsing option…”
Joni: So I can shop for drag-wear in peace?
Some of the “Seven Chrome-Related Concerns” are no longer relevant, but here they are, just to be fair:
1. It's only in its first beta.
(No longer the case.)
2. You won't have any add-ons.
PC World: “Add-ons are a huge draw for Firefox fans…”
Joni: Same could be said of anime and glow stick dancing. I’m not big on those either.
3. You can't synchronize.
PC World: “One big plus of Firefox is its ability to synchronize across multiple computers using Mozilla's Weave option.”
Joni: Yeah, whatever. Is anybody making coffee?
4. You may draw the short stick on standards.
PC World: “…when you look at pages in Chrome compared to pages in Firefox or IE, you'll notice a difference in text formatting.”
Joni: Not that I’ve noticed.
5. You're giving advertisers extra ammo.
PC World: “Have you seen all the hype about Google's privacy practices and how much of your data it shares with advertisers? Imagine the potential ammo you're giving it by using this browser.”
Joni: I have no problem with this as long as it’s not colon-clogging my computer like hidden spyware. If the advertisers’ goal is to give me what I want in the least annoying way, why should I not want to assist them in that endeavor? It’s a little Big Brotherish. I get that. But you know what? That’s the age we live in. Something this good can’t be done for free. They need something back from the users to make the world go 'round. That’s the reality.
6. The dropdown bar is dropped.
PC World: “The idea of the URL dropdown bar is dropped in Chrome.”
Joni: It took me seven minutes or so, but I got over it.
7. You lose some history power.
PC World: “Chrome offers only a simple screen showing your day-by-day history. The ability to sort everything by date, site, or most visited appear to have joined the distaff and spindle on the ash heap.”
Joni: Until the History feature learns to tell me where I left my car keys, it’s dead to me.
Bottom line, I like Google Chrome much better than Internet Explorer, and I found it quick and simple to learn, while Firefox asked too much orientation time; the bells and whistles just aren’t worth it to me, mastodon that I am. I’m doing tons of research right now, so finding and organizing that material is a major issue for me, and Chrome is working fantastically well for that.
Check it out.
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