Look at that, look at that. The whole community in a turmoil, this doesn't happen every day, right :)
First you got to give Google some credit for their "Field security", nothing leaked about it, the first reports on Chrome took me by surprise, but I'm not that an example. I agree with Scobleizer that the guys at Microsoft are finally learning that it is important to be quite and be productive instead of talkative.
Second, I partly agree with Kampf that while *almost* everybody got a such a grin from "Google is punching Microsoft in the nose again". it really got out of proportions, especially the post that kampf was referring which really was one-sided. On the contrary from what I've said Michael Arrington was somehow right in stating that "Google is becoming the new Microsoft", meaning that while it's nice they kicks Microsoft butt, you really need to be worried. So Google is no underdog anymore, that is breaking news? come on.
Google Chrome is another product from Google, in the long run, days will say if it was the day the broke down the walls on Microsoft heads and signaled the end of the OS, I put my money else where, Google Chrome will compete nicely with IE and Firefox, but neither side will gain the upper hand, and competition is good for us, consumers.
On a personal note, I really wanted to see Google UI, Google search and GMail UI are near perfect, both are minimal and very convenient.
It is hard to keep those when the application is complicated. And in comparison to IE7, it is so much simpler.
Just compare the configuration windows, IE got dozens of various options, Chrome got 10, that it.
The UI is pretty much the same, some diffrences:
- One text box for URLs and Search, make sense, the question is how simple users will cope with it because it is not that intuitive.
- The Tabs contain the URL textbox and the opposite as in IE and Firefox. didn't notice any real advantage except being diffrent ;)
- No status bar, when there is a need to show information a popup is shown, this is good because more space is allocated for the main rendering page.
- When many tabs are open, they just get smaller and smaller unlike IE which is showing only 8, and you need to page to the start.
- Neat "Home Page" which shows your 9 most visited sites.
More impressions:
- Rendering is feeling faster that IE.
- Memory consumption seems lower, Chorme seems to open several process for some obscure reasons.
Overall, Chrome seems to feels more agile and minimal.
I am going to give it a chance, and for a IE loyalist who had never really used Firefox for real, it is not just a saying.
You can Download it from http://www.google.com/chrome.
Ariel