Google Chrome - First Impression

Google’s new browser, Chrome, potentially open up new possibilities for webmasters. Chrome takes a step into creating a more user friendly browser but is shaping up to slowly move away from the traditional role of browsers.

Features

Chrome has a developer tool built into the application which is really nice. Chrome also loads very fast and takes very little memory space. It’s a lightweight clean application that satisfies what you need. I also like the feature that saves your own personal little homepage, although they could perhaps allow integratation it with iGoogle. However, for the multitudes of non-Google users, the current homepage is sufficient. The integrated search bar is really nice although it makes checking unused domains more difficult or broken urls. The fact that Chrome also loads each component of a website separately (Javascript, html, etc) is another great feature that helps people load the page regardless of those ill-designed websites.

In addition, Google has made Chrome open source and as with other open Google systems like Android, there will probably be a lot of developers and Chrome may become a major browser contender.

Stepping in a new direction

For better or worse, Chrome seems to serve as another link from desktop to the internet. With Google Desktop and the integration of Chrome, it seems that the internet is slowly becoming ever more meshed into the computer’s operating system. The emphasis Google puts on web applications that substitute for more traditional versions of software is shown through Chrome’s feature of easy integration of web apps. It wouldn’t be surprising to me if Chrome helped initate further integration of web services and applications into people’s daily lives. I feel that currently, unless someone specifically has to use the internet for a service, conventional methods are still prefered: e.g. conferencing.

Of course, at this time, I have yet to finish learning the ins and outs of Chrome and I may post an update.