Review: Google Chrome Beta web browser

Chrome is an interesting name for a web browser.

To web designers, chrome refers to the menus and borders of a browser window; an annoyance that must be accommodated when designing pages.

With this in mind it’s no surprise that Google Chrome is presented in a simple and streamlined way.

The Chrome browser window has no status bar or, by default, toolbars, so the only controls visible are a single text entry field, a handful of buttons and the browsing tabs. Unusually, the tabs are shown above the location bar; either against an ugly blue background in XP or a translucent one in Vista.

The interface has two key quirks. Firstly, the text entry field is both an address bar and a search tool that provides suggestions, so you can type in either an address or keywords. This is ideal for beginners, who often get the two entry types confused. Secondly, tabs can be dragged off the browser to create a new window, or into an existing window.

Chrome uses the open source Webkit rendering engine, so any websites tested with Safari 3 should display correctly. Google’s new Javascript engine, V8, proved over 35 per cent faster than Firefox 3 and almost 70 per cent faster than Internet Explorer Beta 2 in the Sunspider benchmark.

This, especially when combined with Chrome’s ability to present web applications as a standalone tool complete with a desktop shortcut, makes it a great browser for Ajax tools such as Google Docs. Each browser tab runs in a separate system process, so one web application crashing doesn’t need to affect others.

Chrome is currently in Beta, but it’s stable. The current version should appeal to two groups in particular - beginners who want a simple browsing experience and web application users who want the best performance – but it’s certainly one for all web users to keep an eye on.

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