Google Chrome

Chrome browser is quick

Reviewers speculate that the just-released Google Chrome browser may overtake Firefox as the best browser someday. For now, however, experts like The Wall Street Journal's technology columnist, Walter S. Mossberg, say it's "rough around the edges." The current version is Windows-compatible only, and it trails other browsers in features and development.

The Chrome browser's major advantages are its browsing speed, simplicity, privacy and search functions. On most computer tests it proves extremely fast -- far faster than Internet Explorer.

Chrome isn't very customizable -- which can viewed as either a drawback or a blessing -- depending on how much you value simplicity. As use ramps up, like Firefox, add-ons from developers should become more plentiful. One thing that could give Chrome a boost is that it's designed to make the free Google office applications easier to use, synchronizing them so you can use them off-line even when you don't have an Internet connection.

The Chrome browser loads faster than Firefox, and instead of a separate search window, Chrome combines address (URL) and search in one window for both, using your history to suggest choices. Shortcuts allow you to search inside other sites -- Amazon.com, for example -- from this same window. You can do this with Firefox only by installing specific extensions.

Unlike Firefox, Chrome doesn't crash if you visit a website that's unstable or has features that overload your system. You can close just one tab -- as with IE8 -- or use the distinctive Chrome Task Manager diagnostic tool to close just the part of the site that's causing the overload -- a media player, for example. Partly for this reason, reviews find Chrome very reliable.

Your web history database is searchable, another plus, and the Chrome browser offers better privacy features than Firefox. Like Internet Explorer 8, Chrome lets you browse anonymously -- though IE 8 lets you work privately on one tab while working publicly on another. Chrome lacks an RSS reader and download manager. You can use Google Reader, of course, and Chrome does download fine -- it just lacks the "pause and resume" feature that Firefox provides. Reviews find Chrome's bookmarking still undeveloped compared with that of its major competitors.

A major drawback is that the Chrome browser doesn't block ads. Oddly, it doesn't yet integrate with the Google Toolbar. There are a few glitches to be fixed, too -- with Adobe Reader and a few site features. Reviews say it remains to be seen whether or not Chrome security proves adequate. An early vulnerability was quickly fixed with a patch.

There are a few pitfall issues that also plagued early versions of Firefox. Because the Chrome browser is not new, not all websites display properly within it, particularly some web pages that require interaction, such as online forms. Just as with Firefox, this incompatibilities will improve over time, but for now, you'll probably find times when you'll need to switch back to IE or Firefox for certain web pages.