Google Chrome is out in the wild as of a few minutes ago and I just finished installing it on my parallels Windows XP "box", and got to say it performs cool enough and its flashing speed is quite welcomed.
My first impressions, lets say after my 5 minute walk I did around it, is that the browser executes really fast and stable under normal use, a couple of times got unresponsive while switching tabs, but nothing you painful enough.
From download to launch it took me around 45 seconds, and the way it configures the browser at start couldn't been better: it recognizes my default settings from the computer and add them to the browser's options.
There is still a lot to cover with this browser, but given that a lot of people will be talking about it generally elsewhere in the days to come, let's cut the chase and let's start talking Rich Internet Applications on Chrome.
Here are some of my first experiences...
The status on RIA
Now, first thing I do as RIA fanatic that I am? I want to give Google Chrome a test run around the 3 main technologies for Rich App's out there, Flash, Silverlight and Ajax.
Flash
Since, along the Webcast they showcased YouTube working happily in Chrome, I knew what to expect, although I also found out that there has been people not that lucky.
For me? I didn't have to install nothing and the site just worked, out of what I had already installed.
Here is the proof (click to enlarge)
Silverlight
After a successful run with Adobe's tech, I went towards Silverlight.net to try one or 2 of the applications been showcased there and see the results, and they where various:
- Depending on the way developers created their pages hosting the Silverlight application,
- if the developers followed Microsoft's UX Best Practices for Silverlight, the site will tell you that your browser is not compatible, but...
- if the check is not done then browser will try to instantiate the plug-in and run it.
Now here is the catch,
- Depending on the complexity of the application, the execution is going to be painfully slow (wishing that the developer had followed Microsoft's recommendations) and will eventually drain your experience with the browser until you will have to kill it manually... so much for that talking of the multi process execution.
On and all, Silverlight should run flawlessly just a Flash did given that the rendering engine is the same as in Safari - Google is using Webkit as its rendering platform. Although I will the point of the doubt to Microsoft as there could be something in the way Chrome manages the plug-ins for which they didn't account, and yes! Silverlight is still in Beta.
Anyhow, here is how Silverlight looks on Google Chrome (click to enlarge)
AJAX
Now this is probably the instant winner of them all, as the browser itself was tuned to make AJAX-based applications lightning fast when executing.
I tested Chrome of several Google, Microsoft and some other essential Web 2.0 applications that I used, and they all executed flawlessly.
What's to come
I'm sure we are all welcoming Google's approach to the Web, this, as Sergey told the press, is for sure not an OS killer for the Web as many has dared to write, but a good platform to developers to run Web applications in top of.
They see this not as a war on browsers, even though it is indeed, but as a way to raise the bar for the industry as a whole, and as such they invite others to take what they did and get what they feel might be worth and change what is up for improvement... at the end this is a community effort.
In the words of my friend Ryan Stewart
This is a big day for RIA developers because Google started from scratch. They’re building a train that will actually be able to run on the high speed tracks of the Internet. We’ve been pushing and pushing and pushing for a long time, but the browsers just haven’t been able to keep up with demands. Google Chrome should be a big leap forward.
This past 3 weeks will go on into history as the 3 weeks that defined the future of Web 3.0, Mozilla, Microsoft and now Google are teaming up on their own to proof their own version of the future, and as I wrote yesterday, it's is a exiting one and is shapes as the foundation of the commodity of the Web and the renascence of the collaboration of services and a always-on presence of our memories, information and stories... the digital draw of ourselves
Happy testing everyone!
Update: Google just released a new build (1251) updated to improve interoperability with Silverlight and Flash. Check out the info here.
8 comments:
"We are so, so happy with Google Chrome," mumbled Mozilla CEO John Lilly through gritted teeth. "That most of our income is from Google has no bearing on me making this statement." - http://notnews.today.com/?p=57
This new browser have a lot to scare FF and IE, is really lightweight an easy to use. Just waiting to see its code soon and see the magic behind it. I hope we can add add-ons as in FF (missing TwitterFox.... or TwitterChrome?) and other cool plug-ins the community has made for other browsers. Nice review Samiq!
Yes, Chome is very fast. I really want to use it as a replace as Chomoe. However, I am now writing blog about Silvelight and Flash.
As what you have said, the Silverlight can't run properly in Chome. I think I have wait until there is a fix.
(last post) as a replace of IE and Firefox
Great article Samiq, we linked to it from http://GetGoogleChrome.com
I've been using Chrome for a day now and I have to say... so what?
The UI is a bit cleaner, but it lacks basic functionality. I am sure Google would call that 'streamlined', but I call it boring.
I find it especially annoying that you really only have a single search option. Sure I can set what the search engine is, but then I'm committed to that engine.
In both IE and FF, I can install a search provider for Google, Live, Wikipedia, Amazon, etc and I get a drop-down that allows me to determine on any given search which engine I want to use.
In Chrome, I'm stuck with whatever I set as my search engine. Of course, from Google's perspective, why would you ever want to access to a different search engine?
Where's my bookmarks list? Do I have to turn on the bar just to get at it? So, let me get this straight... Google creates a browser that simplifies the UI by removing the bookmarks menu. Instead they require me to turn on a toolbar and then click a button to get to my bookmarks? Lame! (The bookmark import seems to have failed miserably, but I'll let that slide since it is beta software.)
The ability to create an “application link” is a ‘so what’ in my mind. Just because it’s Gmail or Google Docs or GKitchenSink doesn’t mean I need it in its own top-level window. I am perfectly happy keeping it in the browser as a tab.
The zooming functionality isn’t as nice as IE8 or Firefox. They don’t scale the images, so pages start to fall apart sooner on pages with tiled images.
The one thing that I’d miss now that I’ve gotten used to it is IE’s ‘Quick Tabs’ pane with thumbnails of all of the open tabs. Google would probably classify that as ‘bloat’ but I like it.
In IE, you decide when you type a password if you want it saved by checking a checkbox on the username/password dialog. The other two have you decide after-the-fact by showing the info pane at the top of the page (ala IE). That’s a bit lame. All three browsers open the username/password dialog even if they’ve saved the information. Why is that? Do they really need me to click an OK button before retrieving a secured page?
Chrome seems to have forgotten the cancel button on their Options dialog. That’s really lame. I thought cancel-less option dialogs had gone out with Motif.
In all, most of the significant stuff that Chrome offers is available in IE8 beta2 (that's why they rushed out a beta of their own.) InCognito browsing, separate processes to prevent crashes... IE8 did it first.
The ONE thing that Chrome does better is it is faster That one I've give them.
Hi after testing for some period of 20 ours the Chrome shows amazing inflexibility working with Flash, especially if more than one flash application are included in the web sites as more of the news websites are today.
there are so many advantages and features with Chrome, such as it's speed, for example; now if only they would take care it's quirky cookie management...
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