Google
Chrome Needs Polishing
By Cate Eales
Appeared September 11, 2008 on castanet.net
This week we take a first look at a new browser, recycle
our Vista search results, and send audio postcards.
Browse the web with Google Chrome
There's a new sheriff in town. Google has added a browser, called Google
Chrome, to its product line. We have yet another browser choice.
I've been an advocate of
Firefox
as an alternative to the Internet Explorer browser for years now. Firefox
is safer, more flexible, and often faster than Internet Explorer, and I
recommend it highly. That said, no browser is perfect, and I sometimes
encounter a problem with Firefox that causes a site or even the whole
browser to lock up.
Along comes Google Chrome, which is touted as the browser that will not
crash. At worst, you might lose one of the tabs, but the browser itself is
supposed to soldier on. You can
learn more about Google Chrome here and
download it here. Google Chrome is said to be faster, safer, and
crash-proof. "Sounds, great," I thought. "I'll give it a try."
My initial impressions are not favourable. When I installed the browser,
it added Google Updater to my startup without asking permission. That's
rude and unnecessary, and the folks at Google know better than that.
Nonetheless, I decided to cut Chrome some slack; it's still in Beta
testing, after all.
The first thing I noticed is that there was no icon to take you back to
your start page. After some fiddling around, I managed to find out how to
add the icon (Instructions are
here ). Chrome is built to be minimalist in appearance, but it's still
surprising that a Home icon is optional.
I opened up pages in three of the tabs, and managed to crash the entire
browser. Two of the tabs were open to articles explaining why that should
never happen. That's amazingly bad luck.
I love Firefox extensions, and there are several I don't want to give up.
Chrome is brand new, and extensions are hard to come by. There are some
here, and I have no doubt that there will be more if Chrome starts to
catch on.
For now, I'm sticking with Firefox 3 as my primary browser, and I'll give
Chrome a try as improvements are announced. It's a fun toy, but doesn't
measure up to Firefox which allows me to get work done.
Have you tried Google Chrome? Send your opinions to cate@rlis.com and I'll
share them in future columns.
Save your searches in Vista
If you're using Vista, you might already have discovered that the Search
feature is much more powerful than in older versions of Windows. That's
good news, because you often need to use Search to find programs, files,
and folders. The Instant Search box that's always available comes in
handy!
Did you know you can save your searches for future use? Vista actually
includes some preconfigured Search Folders ("Recent Documents" for
instance), but it's easy to set up your own folders. I have several
folders with that contain pictures and documents about my dog. Rather than
open each of those folders until I find what I'm looking for, I can search
on "Sandy dog" and save the results as a Search Folder. Now as I add more
documents or pictures that have to do with Sandy, I can open that Search
Folder and Vista will find new and old documents about Sandy, regardless
of where the documents are stored on the computer.
Send audio postcards
Postcard.fm is a lot of
fun! Upload a photo, upload a song, type your email address and the email
address of your friend, and send an audio postcard. Browse to
http://postcard.fm to try
it out. The whole process takes about seven clicks, and isn't that easier
than searching all over the web for a safe online greeting site?
click to enlarge photo
Do you need help with your computer? Something else
interesting to ask or tell? I'm here to help you and your computer get
along! To ask a question, make a comment or suggestion, or schedule a
visit, email
cate@rlis.com. You can read previous columns
here. If you'd like to
subscribe to this column by email,
please visit this link. It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the
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Links
Download Firefox 3
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Learn about Google Chrome
http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features.html
Download Google Chrome (BETA)
http://www.google.com/chrome
Add Home Icon to Google Chrome
http://unlockforus.blogspot.com/2008/09/help-where-is-google-chrome-homepage.html
Google Chrome Addons
http://www.chromeplugins.org/extensions/google-chrome-extensions/
Send an audio postcard
http://postcard.fm
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives
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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible
and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric,
and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions,
helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware
eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image
management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management.
Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your
comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit
the Real Life Internet Solutions website at
www.rlis.com.
©
Cate Eales 2008 – All Rights Reserved
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