Review: My first thoughts on Google Chrome

It has finally happend.  After much speculation and secrecy, Google has launched its own Open Sourced web browser:  Google Chrome.  It is obvious that this is Google's attempt to take web browsing to a different level.

My initial thought upon first opening Chrome was that the interface is very simple... almost too simple.  You get the standard "Forward" and "Back" navigation buttons as well as an address bar, which Google calls the "Omni bar" because you can do your searches from there.  There is a button for your browser options and a button for your current page options.  Tabbed browsing is slightly different with tabs above the address bar instead of below.  For those of you who like having buttons and icons on your menu bars, this is going to take a little getting used to.  This is definitely NOT Firefox, Opera, or even Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome - A very simplistic interface

Things I like about Google Chrome:

1. Its fast!  Very fast.  Incredibly fast.  I found out that the reason for this is that they are using the same rendering engine that is used in Apple's Safari Browser.
2. Pages load accurately.  Every page I have viewed so far has not been mangled by Google Chrome.  Also, it  passes the Acid 2 test with flying colors.
3. Each tab is sandboxed for extra security.  I normally run my browser in Sandboxie, a sandbox utility, for extra security during my browsing sessions.  I was dismayed to find that Google Chrome did not run well in Sandboxie, but then I was pleasantly surprised to find that each tab in Chrome ran in its own sandbox, negating the need to run the application sandboxed. 
4. Google apps run great.  Obviously Google Chrome was meant to run Google online apps very well.  It worked extremely well with my Gmail account.
5. Google Chrome has a feature called "Create Application Shortcut".  This will place an icon on your desktop that, when activated, will open any web page you specify automatically into Google Chrome, but without the navigation and search bar. This makes that page look as if it were a program installed on your PC.   This strikes me as being very similar to adding a shortcut to the Windows desktop that will automatically open your default browser to a specific web page, but is a neat feature none the less.
6. Users are able to open Google Chrome into an "Incognito Window".   Pages in the Incognito Window won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close it. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.
   

Google Chrome in "Incognito Window" mode.

Things I don't like about Google Chrome:

1. The minimalist interface may take some getting used to, especially if you are used to Opera's or Firefox's customizable interfaces.  At present, Google Chrome's interface is not customizable.
2. I wasn't impressed with how it handled some kinds of videos.  It seemed to play YouTube and Google videos fine, but with wmv video, it automatically tried to play it right in the browser and with AVI and MPG video, it automatically tried to save it.  This could be a turn off for those that like more control over how they like their browser to handle video.
3. There are no options for any add-ons or extentions to the program.  For me this is the single biggest criticizm I have.  I really like the fact that I can add functionality to my browser in Firefox through add-ons.  Maybe this will be a feature Google will add later.
4. There are no versions out yet for Macintosh and Linux, though Google says they are currently working on it.
5. The project is currently still in Beta, meaning that there may be some features that simply don't work correctly yet.  I don't consider this a major issue though.  Look at Gmail, a project that is still considered beta, but already is taking a major portion of the web-based email market.

Am I impressed with Google Chrome?  Absolutely!  It is a great first attempt by Google at a web browser.  Will I switch to it as my primary browser?  At this point, no, though I will probably use it to connect to my Gmail account using the Application Shortcut.  I really would like to see more options for customizing the interface and toolbars, as well as the ability to have add-on programs to enhance the browser even more.  Overall, I take my hat off to Google and look forward to seeing what they will do to improve this excellent product.