http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26519075

Chrome vs. IE 8: A side-by-side comparison
On first glance, both browsers are speedy, but Chrome is faster

Google knows how to lure users with the seeming simplicity of its products, even though there’s a great deal of complexity going on behind the scenes. Microsoft often makes products that seem to create more work than they should for users.

That dichotomy is evident in the companies’ Web browsers — Google’s new Chrome and Microsoft’s Windows Internet Explorer 8, both out in beta, or test, versions. (Msnbc.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)

Chrome shines in its simplicity, while IE 8 brings some better functionality to an existing product.

Both have lots to offer users. Whether either is a good fit for you will depend on your needs. Just as learning a new operating system can be time-consuming, if you’re already happy with the Web browser you use, whether it’s Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari, or Opera, you don’t have to download either Chrome or IE 8, both of which are free.

However, if you like to use different Web browsers at different times, and some people do, you may want to experiment with both.

Visually, Chrome is basic, spare and efficient, an antidote to the busy, cluttered look of Internet Explorer, and the anxiety it can provoke once you get lost within its menus.

I asked Google to explain the meaning of its new browser’s name, and the explanation fit with what the product evinces.

Chrome refers to “the user interface of the browser that surrounds the Web page,” said Erin Fors of Google. “The 'chrome' is everything other than the site itself, including the address bar, toolbars, the window controls and the frame around the bottom.

“With Google Chrome, we've designed the 'chrome' to be minimal so that users are primarily experiencing the sites and Web applications they're visiting.

When you launch a Web application from a desktop shortcut in Google Chrome, the address bar and other browser controls is removed so the 'chrome' is further reduced to just the application frame.”

Chrome has almost a retro feel to it, as if this is how Web browsing should have been 10 years ago, during a (relatively) simpler time, when the Internet for the masses was still new and all about exploring interesting sites rather than having a knee-slapping night of entertainment finding the grossest videos available on YouTube.

Both are speedy; Chrome is faster
I did some initial testing of both Web browsers on a year-old ThinkPad running Windows Vista. Chrome is available for both Vista and XP; Google says versions of Chrome are in the works for the Mac and Linux operating systems.

I also use Safari on a Mac, and Firefox on both the Mac and the PC. Firefox remains my preferred browser for now on both operating systems, having proven itself as relatively stable.

I found both Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 to work quickly, although Chrome, less laden with add-ons, moves at lightning speed.

Its basic interface shows a Web address bar, back and forward buttons, a refresh button and two menus, one for tools and another to handle items such as creating new tabs, new windows and copying and pasting. (By way of comparison, to do those same functions in IE means using three different menus.)

In Internet Explorer, the Web site tabs remain located below the address bar, as they are in Firefox. Chrome puts the tabs above the address bar, giving a truer appearance of file folders in a cabinet.

I’ve never had good luck with having more than two tabs open at once in Internet Explorer before it hangs, in contrast to Firefox. Both Chrome and IE 8 seem to handle multiple tabs with no issues.

In IE 8, Microsoft has added “crash recovery” for tab crashes, so that when they do happen, the tab is restored and and the Web site reloaded as you had it. I’m happy to say I didn’t need to use crash recovery, and had six tabs open at once without incident, a record in my IE experiences.

Chrome’s home page is worth the download experience alone. It gives you a visual snapshot of your nine most-visited Web sites, making it easy to go back to them at any time. It also displays a handy list of recent bookmarks, and recently closed tabs, within easy click range on the home page.

Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 both have Web address bars that try to anticipate what you want to search for, or where you want to go, as soon as you type in a word. Chrome calls its auto-completion feature “Omnibox,” and IE 8’s is “Smart Address Bar.” Both of these worked well.

Both also have stealth surfing modes, but odds are neither will let you escape the eyes of a forensic examiner if your computer is confiscated.

Chrome’s is called “Incognito” mode, which you can slip into at any time by clicking on the same menu you use for creating a new tab. Google is quite clear about Incognito’s features.

“Browsing in Incognito mode only keeps Google Chrome from storing information about the Web sites you’ve visited. The Web sites you visit may still have records of your visit,” Google let me know before I enabled Incognito. “Any files saved to your computer will still remain on your computer.”

IE 8’s program is “InPrivate Browsing,” located in the Tools menu. InPrivate Browsing “ensures that history, temporary Internet files and cookies are not recorded on user’s PC after browsing,” according to Microsoft.

Internet Explorer 8 probably holds more excitement and interest for Web developers and IT managers than everyday Web users. Microsoft has added a lot under the hood to make IE 8 beefier in terms of security and Web development tools.

But for those of us who want a fast, no-nonsense Web-browsing experience, Chrome is a terrific option. Its ease of use does take some getting used to — imagine that! — and it’s an appealing entry into the competitive Web browsing market.

I installed Chrome this week and tried it out.
It is far too simple and lacks features that I need.
The font options do not allow you to override website settings.
I find this a killer because I am not going to start hitting Ctrl+ for every url I visit.
I decided to go back to FireFox but leave Chrome there just in case.

Today I noticed that Chrome has added an entry to my startup menu.
I have no idea what it does but that is a no-no in my book and have un-installed it now.

Google's Chrome browser fast but glitchy



FIRST tests of Google's "faster, safer" browser have revealed embarrassing glitches which prevent basic web features from loading. Online speculation suggests that the errors are based on the Javascript foundations of the browser, which can affect everything from pop-up windows to login modules.

The free browser has been made available in a "public trial" version following a premature press release yesterday on the new service, which came in comic book form.

Google Chrome is being touted as a sleeker and more reliable alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, with Google saying a sophisticated testing system was used to prevent bugs from occurring on popular websites.

However this morning, some computers running Chrome failed to load Google services such as iGoogle and Google Docs, and others – such as GMail's login page – only loaded part of the text, without images or a login form.

One user told news.com.au that a YouTube video had crashed the whole browser in a matter of seconds, contrary to Google's promise of isolating crashes. Yet an exclusive pre-release version of the browser seemed to load Google Docs fine, according to CBS News.

The Chrome browser is designed to automatically update itself without user approval, Google said.

Bloggers have speculated that the errors are based in the browser's open-source foundation, known as WebKit, which Apple's browser Safari is also based upon.

Aside from this significant issue, Chrome can load large websites much faster than other browsers.

While today's release is a test version, the problems with it and the PR fiasco would suggest Google did not originally intend to release the browser today.

Google's announcement comes just after Microsoft has released the beta version of IE8, the eighth major version of its Explorer. The new version is said to be faster, with more graphics and allows users to easily get updates from their favourite websites.

"This (Chrome) is a straight shot over the bow of Microsoft, which has tightly integrated its Live Search offering into its dominant Internet Explorer browser (and which, surprise, is in turn tightly integrated into Windows)," said Mark Hendrickson in a posting on the technology website TechCrunch.

"It also makes for an awkward relationship with Mozilla, whose Firefox browser Google basically funds."

However, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he planned to continue to work closely with Mozilla and hoped to see future versions of Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox become more unified over time.

"It is probably worth noting that they (Mozilla Corp) are across the street and they come over here for lunch," Mr Brin said of Mozzilla employees visits to cafeterias at the Google headquarters.

"I hope we will have more and more unity over time."

Google also gave a nod to Apple's web browser Safari, with Google spokesperson Sundar Pichai saying if a website worked well in Safari, it would work well in Chrome.

Chrome was designed to take advantage of multi-core chips, recently offered by Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices, which allowed computers to handle multiple processes simultaneously and with greater speed, Google engineers said.

Brian Rakowski, group product manager for the browser project, highlighted the significance of offering a faster browser and forcing greater competition in the market.

"You actually spend more time in your browser than you do in your car," he said.

with Reuters and AFP

News.com.au

Germany's Federal Office for Information Security says that Google's new browser Chrome "should not be used for surfing the Internet." The problem, according to a translation from Blogoscoped, is that joined with email and search, Chrome gives Google too much data about its users.

Source : http://valleywag.com/5046665/german-gove...gle-chrome