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Chrome is frustrating
When Google Chrome came out, I switched to it as my default browser because of one significant feature: Each tab runs in its own process. I was using Firefox as my default browser before and I frequently had to kill all my tabs because one of them would start taking up 100% CPU power. Of course, I couldn’t figure out which one, and killing FireFox killed all the windows and tabs.
With Chrome that isn’t a problem in theory. If one tab is causing problems, I simply kill it, and the rest keep going.
However, Chrome has loads of other problems.
- Rendering a page when you switch tabs usually takes just an instant, but sometimes it can take 30 seconds or more.
- Several pages do not work or display correctly in Chrome, including the web mail on my server (Horde mail) and the new otherinbox that I’m testing. So, two of the sites I use the most don’t work right in Chrome.
- While the way Chrome handles downloads is cool, I cannot download Wordpress or Wordpress plugins with Chrome. The download button on that site just doesn’t do anything. There are other sites with the same problem.
- Video is a nightmare on Chrome. I’ve even downloaded the latest developers release that supposedly fixes it. As soon as streaming video loads up, Chrome usually makes my computer very sluggish. Switch to Firefox and all goes well.
- I also find the back button frustrating with Chrome. When I click back to a form submission, it doesn’t work the way other browsers do, and I usually cannot get back to where I’m trying to go.
- Finally, when one Chrome tab is doing anything bad, I cannot access any of the other tabs, or windows, which makes little sense, as they are supposed to be separate processes. Sometimes it locks up my entire computer while it figures things out.
Overall, I like a lot about Chrome. I could write a big list of reasons why I prefer chrome, but it simply isn’t working for me. Apparently I’m not the only one, as people are switching back to IE and Firefox. Chrome’s early market penetration has started slipping.
Next I’m trying Safari. I’ve used it on other computers to test web sites before and found it to be shockingly fast. Hopefully it will actually be usable. Sadly, I had to switch to Firefox to download Safari, because Chrome wouldn’t download it.
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October 2nd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Hi John,
You’ve got a great site here. I’m a friend of Rebecca’s and we met at the Medieval Faire.
Anyway, I’m interested in reading your Chrome thoughts and experiences and will post it to a new site I’m working on, whyyusechrome.com. The index currently sucks as I’m just diving in to Wordpress, but content is starting up at whyusechrome.com/blog
Honestly, I’m not just trying to leave my links lying around
Though I am in sort of the same position as Rebecca… though not to the same extent! That the other part of my life is at active-wellness.blogspot.com
(really, you could delete this post after you’ve read it, though the link backs would be nice)
-Rick
- Trying to learn PHP
(By the way the programming courses at Laurier are all taught using Eclipse [for Python and Java anyway… its probably worthwhile to learn.)
[Reply]
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:41 pm
[...] Check out the site by John at JohnReel.com and what he thinks of Chrome. [...]
October 6th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I couldn’t agree more!!!!
I thought it would be much faster but I was wrong, it loads stuff much slower and it hangs when I try to access password protected pages and download stuff.
I’m back to using mozilla.
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October 6th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Try Opera too…I find it to be “the best” in many ways. It is certainly standards compliant, which means that occassionally a site doesn’t work, because it is crap. Which does detract from the experience sometimes.
But, the rendering engine is fast and really good and generally, if it works on Opera it will work everywhere else (almost).
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October 6th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I use a blend of Chrome and Firefox.
Chrome works very well for me when used as follows:
1) I use http://www.clipperz.com for some key log ins.
2) I use Chrome to run email, CEO Express, ToodleDo, Highrise, iGoogle, Facebook, Twitter and a couple more.
3) Important - I am now running domain email via Google Apps (for a load of domains all on one apps account). My calendar, Docs etc etc all open easily. I got fed up with Outlook, assorted webmail clients and things like Horde and other CPanel related email clients. Google Apps domain email rocks - my email productivity has risen enormously.
4) Firefox is used for stuff like Roboform log ins for a load of other sites. This way, my main productivity tools are nice and fast in Chrome, reliable and due to Clipperz I can log in with one click. If Firefox goes down then it is not such a big deal. My Firefox set up enables me to email links from a button and loads the Google Aps send page, even though I am logged in via Chrome.
5) At times I use Avant Browser which is a better “version” of IE. I try to avoid using IE at all, unless checking site rendering.
6) Flock, the social browser, is useful for some stuff. I rarely use Safari or Opera apart form site rendering checks.
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