Journal johndiii's Journal: Google Chrome - First Thoughts 12
This journal entry is being written in Google Chrome. I read through the comic book, and some of their ideas look interesting.
On memory utilization - it looks like it's a little high. With six tabs open, it's consuming 175 MB. Seven processes that I can see in Windows Task Manager. One for each tab, and one for the Flash plugin (for TMQ). In its current state, it does not look like it's going to support the browsing behavior that I use in Firefox - over seventy open tabs at a time.
On the other hand, I can see which tabs are using a lot of memory. The Chrome task manager is a nice feature (particularly given feature that each tab is a separate process). There's a little link on it entitled "Stats for nerds" which opens a new tab on about:memory. More interesting stuff there.
I like the idea of running plugins in a separate process. I just went out and killed the process for the Flash plugin. The flash ad disappeared from the TMQ page, and I got a message: "The following plugin has crashed: Shockwafe Flash". You bet it crashed, buddy.
Performance is good. It runs Slashdot much better than Firefox, or any of the other browsers that I have installed. Gmail is much smoother as well.
No mouse gestures, and I don't see any sign of extensions. I went nuts with Firefox extensions at one point, but now I am back down to a few very useful ones. No such ability, as far as I can see, in Chrome.
Interesting UI. Not all that different from other browsers, but there are unique features. I miss the dropdowns attached to the back and forward buttons, but I like the one-click ability to open a new tab. Firefox needed an extension for that.
This is going to be fun to play with, but I'm not going to replace Firefox as my default browser just yet. And now I have five different browsers to choose from.
Update: Click and hold on the back and forward buttons to get the dropdowns. Live and learn. Or just read the tooltips.
Opera (Score:1)
Google and Opera were partnered for a while which is why Opera is now free. I have to wonder what's going to happen to Opera now that Google is creating its own browser. Is it based on Opera or is Opera out of luck?
One click open in new tab for firefox (Score:2)
Interesting UI. Not all that different from other browsers, but there are unique features. I miss the dropdowns attached to the back and forward buttons, but I like the one-click ability to open a new tab. Firefox needed an extension for that.
Middle-click.
Thank you! (Score:2)
Just watch out for... (Score:1)
...what you're agreeing to and signing on for by using it:
Be sure to read Chrome's fine print [cnet.com]
Especially that clause #2. For example, while you use their browser, you consent to their making copies of your submitted orders to any online shopping site, and potentially making this data publicly available. Furthermore, anything you view in their browser, even if not served off the public web, such as local files, can be made public.
Re: (Score:2)
Those terms seem very similar to Microsoft Silverlight, with the perpetual license to update the functions and scope of the software. When services starts scanning files searching for non-DRM content to disable (Silverlight), and personal facts to assist targeted advertising (Google Ads) then I wonder if there will ever be a point that is too far, and result in a the pendulum swinging back towards a more secure paradigm for communications.
Re: (Score:1)
I wonder if that's even legal. It seems to me to be an open-ended contract. Which is no contract at all. If I let you use the boat that I own, so that I can have access to the pier on your property, I can put that in a contract, but I can't really add the stipulation that at any time I can expand what of yours I help myself to, like your house or your car or anything else in the future I may think of. I would think that would be
Re: (Score:1)
Actually, the analogy you use makes perfect sense in its scope, but arguments of that kind can't be directly inferred for the software licenses.
Practically every other EULA I see involves vague terms that boil down to "the terms you're reading now are subject to change at any time without any notice to you of any kind". There's an implicit "you agree to be bound by these new terms even if you don't know what they are", but also implicitly "you have the right to end the agreement when you find out". What a
Re: (Score:1)
Practically every other EULA I see involves vague terms that boil down to "the terms you're reading now are subject to change at any time without any notice to you of any kind".
Sure, but in my mind there are three categories of cases, going from effectively harmless to most worrisome:
1) EULA's on installed software in the pre- "every computer interconnected" era, that said "we can change the terms of this license at any time". Big deal, they couldn't get at the software to change anything about it, they cou
Re: (Score:1)
[snip!]...Now we actually *need* legal protection.
Oh, I couldn't agree with you more, and spot-on about the points.
Along the same vein, I'm also amazed at the number of games coming out lately (Half-Life 2 comes to mind, see below*) that _require_ an internet connection to even use them, force registration, etc. I still vividly remember the trouble that Blizzard got into over one of their free server program set-ups (I think it was part of the original Starcraft)-- where they were discovered to be transferring personal data without permission and immediat
Re: (Score:2)
NOTEVILNotevilnotevil!
I am the browser, with a conduit to Google that bypasses your proxy with private application traffic!
Cool (Score:2)
FYI...sometimes it really doesn't work... (Score:1)
I had a friend in IT support relate just yesterday how she had to extract this software off a machine (rather forcibly), because it was causing a hard drive to thrash so viciously that just letting it do its startup background-running components was bringing a rather brand-new laptop to its knees. It may be a Vista issue for all I know, but that nugget of info-- combined with your reports of the program's requirements-- has me wondering if this isn't yet another bloated widget.
Since when is basic browsing