Is there an advantage to Chrome I should know about?

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New to Macs here, and was wondering about Chrome. I didn't use or like it in Windows-land, and I'm not sure if I have a use for it in my new life on a MBP. Frankly, I find Safari to be a powerful and capable browser, perfectly matched to this BEAUTIFUL OSX! I *do* have Mozilla, but only due to that I use Download Helper for some music archiving I do. That's the only time Mozilla is broken out. I do, however, see lots of banner ads for Chrome here and elsewhere and just wondered if there was some awesome secret I don't know, that I should? So, what says y'all? Should I trade in it, or since I do really like Safari, what the heck am I even concerned about?

:p
 
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IMO its like a Coke versus Pepsi thing its whatever you prefer they have all pretty much caught up with each other. Give each one a try and see what you prefer I am staying with Safari unless they mess it up.
 
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Two words... Angry Birds.
 
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The only feature I've found that I enjoy more is the "full screen" mode for viewing during browsing..other than that, I haven't been blown away yet.
 

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Um, Safari does just as full screen as Chrome.

If you did not like Chrome before OSX, I doubt you will like it any better on the OSX side. It a good browser for sure, but so is Safari and others.

Like was posted, give them all a try. There is Opera also! Had you ever used Opera in your PC days?
 

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Two words... Angry Birds.
Hahaha.

New to Macs here, and was wondering about Chrome. I didn't use or like it in Windows-land, and I'm not sure if I have a use for it in my new life on a MBP.

If you did not like Chrome before OSX, I doubt you will like it any better on the OSX side. It a good browser for sure, but so is Safari and others.
Agreed. If you didn't like it before, you won't like in on the Mac. It's the exact same browser.
 
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Doesn't the Chrome EULA basically state that Google gets to collect data from Chrome as well as all other browsers on one's computer? I might be wrong, but if not, I'm sure most browsers probably have a similar EULA. Anyhow, that's why I don't use it. Functionally, it seems like a fine browser.
 
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I use Chrome.

- I like the interface, it's out of the way and things seem to be where I expect them to be.

- I use other computers and virtual machines, and I use Chrome on all of those with Sync to keep my bookmarks and passwords with me.
 
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You should use whatever it is that you like best, good sir! If it appeals to your taste and preference, then use whichever browser you'd like. All of the major browsers of today will have similar features, and will all accomplish the something! :)
 
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I moved to Chrome because Safari and Firefox were seriously bogging my system down. Both browsers have been updated since then and are apparently much faster than they used to be but I've gotten used to Chrome and can't be bothered switching back.

Have a play with it and see if you like it. If not, keep using what works for you.
 

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To each his/her own, of course. But in my view, Chrome is little more than Safari repackaged. It uses the same rendering engine (WebKit) and a slightly uglier and less functional UI (which is saying something, because Safari's UI is pretty ugly and non-functional). Bookmark management is horribly underdeveloped in particular. For that reason alone, I've pretty much abandoned it.

Personally, I prefer Firefox to all the other browsers out there. I am once again on a "I'm going to force myself to use Safari, because it's just so darned fast" binge at the moment. But I'm growing weary of Safari's less-than-capable password management (for example, it won't autofill certain fields), but I'm not irritated enough yet to drop $40 on 1Password. For now, I'll deal with a bit of extra typing.

Is there some "killer feature" that makes Chrome desirable? Not on the Mac (IMO). On Windows, yes, but only because Windows Safari is not all that well done. Compared to more resource-heavy browsers like IE and Firefox on Windows, it's lightweight and a speedy performer. So, it definitely had its advantages there - just not so much on Macs, where we already have a fairly well done WebKit-based browser.
 
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Doesn't the Chrome EULA basically state that Google gets to collect data from Chrome as well as all other browsers on one's computer? I might be wrong, but if not, I'm sure most browsers probably have a similar EULA. Anyhow, that's why I don't use it. Functionally, it seems like a fine browser.

Google also states exactly which parts of Chrome collect data so you can turn them off. It's in the EULA only to protect their hides from people that don't realize how technologies like Instant Search in the URL bar or using "My Location" for relevant results work. Chrome doesn't just send your usage data off because it can. Plus you can easily turn those off in the preferences.

On to browsing habits, though:

My browser of choice has changed as the browsers themselves have. I haven't used Safari as my primary browser in a while, though I did once feel conflicted over whether I liked Safari's clean UI and snappy performance or Firefox's power, security and vast array of extensions and options more. When Chrome was released, it completely pushed Safari out of the picture, because it was just as fast if not faster and did a better job of making a UI that managed to pull off being functional and clean at the same time (a sentiment Firefox's and Safari's dev teams both seem to have agreed with given the changes in their default themes that came in the following months). Plus the extension scene on Chrome, while not at Firefox's level, put the options on Safari to shame, and Chrome actually had even better security features than Firefox. Tabs as separate processes was a pretty cool idea attached to that as well, since it made the browser inherently the most stable one on the market. So for the longest time now, I've been using Chrome as my primary browser.

This has started to shift in the last couple months: Firefox has been making large strides towards not feeling like something that should be a museum, and the beta of version 7 in particular is quite good. I only wish now that Firefox's main dev team cared a little bit more about its performance on non-Windows platforms. I now find myself using Firefox a lot, with Chrome mainly being used when I want to use Google services extensively, especially since the advent of Google+. They run on other browsers, of course, but there is definitely a little bit of a performance edge when using Chrome. Safari has actually slipped even lower than it was previously in my rankings, due in part to advances other browsers have been making and in part to Apple's failings in the design of Safari 5.1, specifically with regards to the crippling of privacy preferences and RAM inefficiency the likes of which has rarely been seen before.

Getting to your original question, though, OP, as you've already discovered, sometimes different browsing habits call for different browsers. If you're curious about Chrome, Seamonkey, Camino, Lynx or even Opera, try using only it for a while and decide whether you think it's a better option than what you have for overall browsing or even just for specific purposes. You my find something you like.
 

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That is a WINDOWS browser test. IE10 does not run in OSX. In Windows Safari is no where near the browser that it is in OSX.
 
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ah. that makes sense. thanks. :)
 

vansmith

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To each his/her own, of course. But in my view, Chrome is little more than Safari repackaged. It uses the same rendering engine (WebKit) and a slightly uglier and less functional UI (which is saying something, because Safari's UI is pretty ugly and non-functional). Bookmark management is horribly underdeveloped in particular. For that reason alone, I've pretty much abandoned it.
It does use WebKit but it also uses its own JavaScript engine and had its own sandboxing and process framework ages before Safari had it. I'll agree with the bookmark management but given my rather limited bookmark needs, I can't really comment further than "yes, it needs some work."

Is there some "killer feature" that makes Chrome desirable? Not on the Mac (IMO). On Windows, yes, but only because Windows Safari is not all that well done. Compared to more resource-heavy browsers like IE and Firefox on Windows, it's lightweight and a speedy performer. So, it definitely had its advantages there - just not so much on Macs, where we already have a fairly well done WebKit-based browser.
Chrome uses Cocoa, unlike Opera and Firefox, which makes it a much more nimble and well-integrated application. The canary builds (super bleeding edge) for instance have implemented full screen (if this is a concern). The browser as a whole then operates much better as a Mac "citizen" relative to Firefox and Opera. It's also updated much more frequently than Safari which has a glacial update speed (and that's an understatement). Don't get me wrong - Safari is a solid browser. I just think that Chrome (along with every other browser) has something to offer that the others don't.
 

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Chrome uses Cocoa, unlike Opera and Firefox, which makes it a much more nimble and well-integrated application. The canary builds (super bleeding edge) for instance have implemented full screen (if this is a concern). The browser as a whole then operates much better as a Mac "citizen" relative to Firefox and Opera. It's also updated much more frequently than Safari which has a glacial update speed (and that's an understatement). Don't get me wrong - Safari is a solid browser. I just think that Chrome (along with every other browser) has something to offer that the others don't.

I know it's surprising being that I'm a Mac-user, but I don't necessarily care for the "less is more" philosophy that seems to be at work in both Safari and Chrome. I don't care if it's more "Mac-like", I want all of my buttons, gauges and information readily present. I don't want to dig through menus or wait for something to pop up contextually. Maybe I'm an odd-bird. But a pretty UI (to me) doesn't mean looking austere.
 

vansmith

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I know it's surprising being that I'm a Mac-user, but I don't necessarily care for the "less is more" philosophy that seems to be at work in both Safari and Chrome. I don't care if it's more "Mac-like", I want all of my buttons, gauges and information readily present. I don't want to dig through menus or wait for something to pop up contextually. Maybe I'm an odd-bird. But a pretty UI (to me) doesn't mean looking austere.
Haha, I guess this is where our aesthetic preferences diverge. I'm very much attracted to minimal designs. The lack of clutter and minimal window chrome (excuse the pun) are signs of good UI design to me. Perhaps this is due to having a 13" screen.
 

dtravis7


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CWA, I am with you on that. I do love Safari though but customized it to the hilt with many added buttons! :D

I love functions and being able to click and control things. Same with Stereo/Audio equipment also and electronics. Give me more knobs and buttons that do useful things and I will smile! :D

I don't hate Chrome at all but even with every option checked, it's still a bit too minimal for me in it's interface.

Van, what do you think of Opera's interface? You can make a lot of stuff show up in Opera. I do see your point though with the 13" screen and too much clutter.
 
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chas_m

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I like a web browser that gets out of my way and presents pages quickly, correctly and with the option of blocking ads if that's what I want to do. Safari 5.1 does these things with incredible speed.

Most of the other browsers I've seen are nice in their own way (for one reason or another), but after all these years I still haven't seen anything that *beats* Safari by more than a second or so (not enough of a difference to matter to me). I don't want to change browsers every time somebody somewhere comes up with a way that will -- very temporarily -- make their browser the "fastest." Fast and reliable are good enough for me, and Safari (with Flash either turned off, controlled or -- now -- sandboxed) meets that criteria beautifully.
 

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