Google’s latest stable Chrome browser is now supporting extensions! Just like any other computer geek who is constantly looking for a better browser as if one is seeking for a holy grail, I have had the pleasure of installing new extensions onto Chrome browser on my Windows 7 machine. I’m a little disappointing that I couldn’t find my most trusted extension that I’ve used constantly with Firefox which is Noscript in Google’s extension library. Luckily, I found WOT and installed this onto Chrome. WOT is also available on Firefox which I’ve also used it constantly on that browser.
Other extensions that I had also installed onto Chrome were Google Dictionary, Google Translate, Google Wave Notifier, Smooth Scroll, WOT, and Xmarks Thumbnails. Honestly, so far I haven’t yet seen any extension for Chrome that I think it’s a must install besides those ad-blocker extensions and WOT and Google Dictionary and Google Translate. Still, this whole extension capability is pretty brand new to Chrome; in due time, Chrome will be inundated with all types of extensions — by then it won’t be too hard to find the right extensions for your using of Chrome.
Chrome is already a beauty as it is, but if you want to beautify it a little more, you can add themes to it. Watch a YouTube video that I uploaded so you know how to apply new themes to Chrome.
OK, so I heard about Google’s Chrome browser that is now capable of incorporating cool extensions, but to my dismay I found out that you have to download Chrome’s beta version which is still in a developing stage in order for extensions to work. If you have been using Firefox and Safari and IE 8, then extensions probably aren’t new to you, but the current official Chrome browser doesn’t allow users to add extensions.
Extensions are like extra mini features (software) that third party developers released, and by adding extensions to a browser, a browser can do many more cool things besides the standard features that a particular browser has. Google promises that adding extensions on Chrome will be easy as changing themes for Chrome. There is a new extension that Google is really pushing to let people know about is known as Quick Scroll. It’s best to let Google explains to you what Quick Scroll is since I have not yet tried Quick Scroll myself.
Back to the point of Chrome and extensions, it’s the right move for Google to wholeheartedly working on pushing out the capability of Chrome which is to accept extensions; in my opinion it’s really hard to convince a Firefox’s users or other browsers’ users to switch to Chrome without the extensions that they have been accustomed to in their original browsers. For me personally, I like the appearance of Chrome best, but I like Firefox more as it has the extensions that I need, and in the end I’m still using Firefox.
One last thing I want to rant about the extensions is that security can also be an issue. Extension developers are coming from many walks of life, and you don’t know them personally, and by using the extensions, you are trusting the developers of the extensions; the issue here is that a black-hat hacker can create a malicious extension and release it into the extension directory, people who download a malicious extension is going to have a lot of headaches in relating to why my computer suddenly stops acting normal! This is why we all must be wary about the extensions that we don’t know about enough — this goes for all browsers.
Chrome was launched a year ago, but now Google has claimed that Chrome has 30 million users. Still, Chrome needs to multiply its 30 million users by 10 or more to be able to catch up with the number of people that are using Firefox. Yet, Firefox needs to multiply its huge number of users by three or more to be on a par with IE.
Some people say Chrome is the fastest browser out there, and I think it’s true. I do like Firefox better, because there are more plugins readily available for Firefox than Chrome. For an example, I cannot trust a browser that doesn’t have a Noscript plugin. This is why I won’t be using Chrome unless Noscript plugin is available on Chrome. I can make an exception if Chrome has a plugin that is equally as good as Noscript. For your information, Noscript is a plugin that block malicious Javascript, Java, and Flash, and only allow these to run from trusted websites of your choice.
IE 8 is claimed to be the best IE version, but it’s slower than most browsers. IE 8 could crash on you if you have installed a buggy plugin. Firefox has the same problem with buggy plugin, but it seems Firefox browser tends to crash less — maybe because Firefox does have many more stable plugins than IE 8.
Chrome definitely is a good alternative browser for Firefox. Perhaps, give enough time, Chrome may surpass Firefox, but that remains to be seen. I have not seen Chrome crashing on me yet, but that is not enough for me to say Chrome will not crash. I have to say Chrome is a very stable browser when comparing against many well known browsers. Let see how many more browsers’ users will switch to Chrome as Chrome turns two. How many more years you think that Chrome needs for it to be able to catch up to Firefox and IE?
There are so many web browsers out there that not too many people actually care. Why should they when IE6, IE7, and IE8 were installed as part of Windows, or were upgraded through Windows update, right? Some people even though they are sick of using Internet Explorer, they still prefer IE over something else so they can avoid learning how to use another web browser. Then there is another group of people that prefers to stay away from IEs and turn to Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and many other less well known browsers.
Why some people prefer another browser over IEs? The idea is that using another web browser over IE may be hacker-safe. As too many hackers and scammers are targeting IE users, it’s somewhat safer to use a less well known browser where hackers and scammers pay less attention to. Browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Opera are quite good in offering stability, usability, performance, and features that IEs may not have.
Firefox has thousands of add-ons that are quite useful, and to name the fews that you may like such as NoScript, WOT, Video DownloadHelper, Firebug, Personas, PDF Download, FoxTab, Forecastfox, GooglePreview, CoolPreviews, and so much more. Some people think that Firefox is much faster than IEs.
Chrome is a browser that made by Google. Chrome has a special feature that most browsers don’t have is that each opened tab is sandbox — means each tab has its own process. This means whenever a website or a web application that you open up through a tab goes berserk, crashes your web browsers, but with Chrome the bad websites can only crash a process, and so only a single tab will be out of service. Chrome has a very clean look when comparing it with Firefox and other browsers. Chrome rather has its users see more of a website they visit than a browser itself, and so most features on Chrome stays out of users’ sights.
Opera has a very cool feature that allows you to use mouse gestures to navigate the web. Opera seems to have more add-ons than Chrome, but less add-ons than Firefox.
Many website designers have a hard time in designing websites that compatible with all browsers. In fact, it’s extremely hard to do so as different browsers render websites differently. This is why some websites look perfect on IEs, but it’s another story when the same websites render with Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and so on. IE6 and IE7 are somewhat acting on their own rules and not conform to some standard rules that some browsers are following. IE8 is another story, Microsoft says IE8 plays much nicer than its predecessors by following some standard rules. To compare different browsers’ behaviors, you can check out browsershots.org.
For anyone who cares about security, it’s best to upgrade to the latest version of the browser that you’re using. It’s not a bad idea to have more than one browser installed on your computer. Why? It’s for appearance and security purposes. Also, when you get bored with one browser, you have the option of choosing another browser to play with.
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