I’ve had a chance to download and test Google's new Chrome browser and what a gem it is!  As a 1.0 product built in open source, Chrome is ahead of the pack leveraging the same base WebKit as Apple's Safari browser and launching the product in unison with the release of Windows IE 8.0.   Although considered in beta, Chrome offers some unique advantages over other browsers.

First and foremost is the slick user interface – keeping it simple and clean, Chrome combines several features into one, allowing more screen room for more important content. No doubt, it takes a bit to get used to, but once you’re in play, you won’t miss the clutter that was there before. 

The new-tab page is one of Chrome's most critical and useful design elements. This is the page that comes up by default every time you launch the browser or open a new tab. It shows you thumb images of the web pages you most frequently visit, and input boxes for the search engines you most frequently use and for searching your browser history.  

The new-tab page also shows a list of recently bookmarked pages, and another list of recently closed tabs. All of this is populated automatically -- you don't need to do a thing to create the page! 

Chrome is faster than most browsers and can multithread. Other browsers are single-threaded, which means they can only do one thing at once. If your Gmail session hangs for example, your entire browser is frozen.  

You have the option of importing bookmarks, passwords, and other settings from Internet Explorer or Firefox. So, you won’t need to re-establish all your credentials after installing Chrome – you’re basically up and running immediately. 

Lastly, Google has done a great job of launching Chrome by using a web comic book to introduce the product and its main features. You have to check it out!

Best

Denice MacDonald