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Google Chrome real thin client: the fat Firefox killer

When I first heard of the release of Google Chrome I thought that this was probably one browser too many. When I tried it this morning (I’m writing with it now) I was really amazed at the simplicity and – above all – lightning fast display of the new Google browser. Besides, there are interesting features like window drag and drop, the ‘most visited’ page and ‘recent bookmarks’ box which are automatically updated when you open a new tab, its ‘full screen always’ mode and many others.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome real thin client: the fat Firefox killer

Above all, it’s a no frill, and incredibly quick browser, straightforward and – eventually – a really thin client. So much so that I then started to wonder whether it was really Miscrosoft who had to fear Google’s new release or rather Firefox. The once preferred browser of many a geek and Web enthusiast – including yours truly – has been enhanced with piles of new functionality, addons, skins and such like until it became hardly usable.
Now, my Firefox 3 browser loads far slower than my IE7 and sometimes it freezes my PC to a point that I have to kill it and start IE to browse the web. The final straw I should say.  Besides, many sites aren’t displayed properly with Firefox, a bug which never was corrected and is now wearing thick (the useful IETab addon can somewhat circumvent that problem, but only to an extent and besides, it contributes to the bulk of Firefox).

As per the question raised by ZDnet (see linked article at the bottom of this post and here) I don’t think that Google Chrome is an IE killer (IE still accounts for more than 80% of usage) but I would certainly rate it as a potential Firefox killer. At the end of the day, Google Chrome is promising not because of its development kit or any such complex features but because it delivers on the real and fundamental promise of the long awaited but never seen thin client. And one can remember 1997 and the way that Google killed Yahoo! in no time not just because its search engine and indexing was superior, but because it had managed to strip its user interface of all the unnecessary bells and whistles.

Is Google Chrome the future Android browser for mobiles?

Google Chrome is Google’s back to basics browser and therefore I think it has a good chance of succeeding. Now the next question is: Is Google Chrome the future Android browser for mobiles? Wait and see, we’re thrilled!

Yann Gourvennec
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Yann Gourvennec

Yann Gourvennec created visionarymarketing.com in 1996. He is a speaker and author of 6 books. In 2014 he went from intrapreneur to entrepreneur, when he created his digital marketing agency. ———————————————————— Yann Gourvennec a créé visionarymarketing.com en 1996. Il est conférencier et auteur de 6 livres. En 2014, il est passé d'intrapreneur à entrepreneur en créant son agence de marketing numérique. More »

One Comment

  1. I’ve been playing around with it myself all day and I have to agree that it’s lack of bloat is probably the best feature. The pages load incredibly fast and the tab-dragging feature is excellent.
    I also quite like the element properties features which makes for quick grabs of raw HTML.
    We all have to remember that it’s still in Beta mode, but for a beta it’s quite solid. Yes it doesn’t have add-ons, but I imagine it will soon enough as it’s open source.
    One thing I’d like to see implemented asap are better options for viewing the browser..one pet peeve of mine is underlined hyperlinks…and I can’t seem to get rid of them in Chrome.

  2. should be interesting to see if Chrome works more efficiently than FireFox… if it’s faster than Firefox, since isn’t IE, then i’ll use it

  3. Hello Yann,
    I have not tried Google Chrome yet, since there is no Mac version !
    From what I read, it looks interesting.
    I have the same issues that you have with Firefox 3. It worked well for weeks and now it freezes unexpectedly. But I have to say that if many sites do not work properly with Firefox, it is not FF’s fault, most of the time. It is only that many developers have optimized their code for IE and IE does not respect all standards !
    I also wonder what is going to happen to the deal between Google and the Mozilla foundation. By providing Google search engine by default in Firefox, the foundation had plenty of revenue from Google. Is it going to last ?
    Finally, I think Chrome is not only a Firefox killer, nor a IE killer. I think it aims at being a Windows killer, and maybe a Microsoft killer. Maybe Chrome will be a true Web OS.

  4. Folks, if you like Googe Chrome, but want a more full featured browser, try Opera. Opera’s just as fast as Chrome, and isn’t an experimental build that’ll report your searches to Google.

  5. I agree that Chrome could be an effective web OS, but I’d like for Google to come out with an actual OS to offer a complete solution and bypass Windows altogether.

  6. I think Google chrome is a good idea, but i think, Firefox is better!
    Few days ago I installed the release #3 of FF and it works very good.
    I think Chrome must be more improved…

  7. I have to insist Notizie, that Chrome is faster than Fire fox by minutes (not seconds) when it first loads and that’s mainly because it cannot be slowed down by addons. e.g. spell checker is inbuilt and language selector is automatic, not a full-fat software addon developed by God know who and with bugs included. This is why I say that Less functionality is More. But I agree with you that there are still a few shortcomings. Yet, it has now become good enough to be used as a main browser (I’m still using it)

  8. @hostintruder Thanks for the tip about the about% crash tip. will try it in a moment – after responding to your message that is because otherwise you won’t be able to read this 😉

  9. Faster sounds incredibly good at the moment, thanks for the study 🙂 Sheri

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