So I was checking out my performancing advert on Randa Clays’ post about Trying out Google Chrome and I thought I’d give it a go myself.
ummm, could it be any faster? I thought it was obviously taking the piss somewhere. How come my site can load this fast? For the past few months I have been getting quite frustrated with how my sites perform when I load them in Firefox, even so far as to break out IE and use that when I have a lot of posts to write!! 
That got me thinking, I love Firefox and its awfully good plugins like the web developer and such, I use them like.every.day but, is it slowing down because of all these extras? the answer is yes, yes it is.
That also got me thinking, is it faster because it’s new? probably just like when you get a new install of Windows and it loads up in seconds and programs don’t take an age to show the splash page only to go back to ‘normal’ within a few weeks of using (or in my case, within a day of me installing all the developer suite stuff)
But fast right? that’s what everyone is saying and for the life of me I can’t believe how much faster my pages load, all my sites seem to appear as if they were on another tab, hell even Firefox lately has been taking longer to switch to a new tab than it does for this thing to load my page afresh!
But no plugins right? well, to be honest, the only plugins that I absolutely need are the web developer ones and while I was checking out my CommentLuv site to see if the AJAX works on the settings page I noticed it didn’t show the form box for changing the cache age… dammit, that’s why it works so well, it’s half arsed!! but, nope, it was entirely my own fault…
It turns out that Chrome has it’s own debugger and source viewer with bells and whistles, I needed to know how to use the debugging console and I found this post by Eric about Basic information on Chromes’ Debugger.
By using the breakpoint function I was able to step through the code and find out exactly where the problem was occurring. It turns out that I had (again) put <script type=javascript etc in a file I was calling as src=.
So, now I am converted to Chrome. It does all that I need and does it fast. You should try out Chrome Browser for yourself, it downloads and installs quite quickly and has some nice features that are done well enough to make them look simple
05.09.08 11:08 am
Im a convert too I start up FF and its like waiting for paint to dry!
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#105.09.08 12:46 pm
Hi Andy
Have you notcied any differences in the way it displays your sites? One of my concerns is whether this is going to be yet another browser that we have to cater for when designing our sites!
Cheers, Jon
Jons last blog post: Starting a Salon – What to name your salon?
#205.09.08 12:51 pm
styletime: it really is refreshing to have such quick access to a page. all this time I was thinking my broadband was rubbish!
jon: that was one of my major concerns too, I nearly cried when I saw it didn’t render my settings page (until I realised it was because I’m a dunce and I don’t like to terminate strings in source code properly!) but it has, so far rendered everything beautifully (much better than FF3)
I love it
#305.09.08 12:55 pm
@Jon
Ive only found one site with a prob and I talked with the site owner and they said its the same on Safari as I think Chrome uses ‘webkit’ so if it works in Safari then Chrome is good to go.
styletimes last blog post: Top 8 FRIENDLY designers WORTH following on Twitter!
#405.09.08 1:00 pm
Andy, styletime – thanks for the feedback. Looks like I’ll have to download and try it out this weekend
Cheers, Jon
Jons last blog post: Your Salon Website – Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) basics
#505.09.08 4:03 pm
it’s worth a go!
#605.09.08 4:28 pm
Well seeing all of you so enthusiastic, I am getting a bit enthused too. I am normally slow to change reluctant to leave my comfort zone. Let me first see someone who has installed it and then perhaps, I shall.
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#705.09.08 4:38 pm
I was sorely disappointed with the firefox 3 upgrade, that caused me no end of hassle so I was really pleased to see this one turn out so well
#805.09.08 5:32 pm
The browser is just amazing! the best feature is definitely the Javascript VM
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#905.09.08 6:34 pm
aspr: it saved my bacon today, being able to step through a page as the javascript is executed helped me find an error in my new page. I haven’t got much experience with javascript so it really was welcome, do you have any experience with the VM?
#1006.09.08 2:17 pm
I think Chrome is definitely worth a look. It lacks some handy development features, and their EULA still needs some work (it has some disturbing clauses that were ripped from other Google apps) so definitely read the fine print before installing. In one early release the EULA stated that Google had the right to reproduce or republish, as their own, anything posted through or viewed with Chrome.
Chrome’s sandboxed browser tabs also prevent a site crash or javascript memory leak from taking down your entire browser session. This also means that memory segregation keeps the data in one tab secure from malicious scripts in other tabs.
Chrome does suffer from a couple of security bugs right now (http://justin.madirish.net/node/297) that are worth keeping an eye on. The security community is really putting Chrome through the paces so I’d be on the lookout for newly discovered vulnerabilities over the next moth or so.
Mad Irishs last blog post: First Looks at Google Chrome
#1107.09.08 4:34 am
Chrome sounds promising! I will give it a try later [maybe at next updated version - at least after fix security bugs].Andy Ts last blog post..BILD Breakfast Club
#1208.09.08 1:36 pm
Google chrome is a decent browser for just a beta, and although it isn’t up to par with the other more prominant browsers, it has a long way to go. However, at the moment it really isn’t all that great.
Speaking of which here is a review of google chrome with firefox 3.
Google Chrome vs Firefox 3
#1308.09.08 7:58 pm
I’ve tried Chrome and agree that the fast load times are refreshing. It’ll be a while before I fully convert though. Once it’s out of beta and people start releasing a lot of plugins for it, I think it’ll be a major contender among browsers.
#1409.09.08 4:48 am
I’m actually as comfortable with firefox as with my old shoes, but since you recommend chrome so much, i guess i’ll give it a try.Eva Whites last blog post..Another Horrifying Headline
#1509.09.08 10:40 pm
I have high hopes for Chrome. It’s fast and speedy and much safer than IE. As for Firefox, there are add-ons I just can’t live without. But if developers start making them for Chrome, then adios.incognitos last blog post..Updating Google Chrome
#1620.09.08 4:25 pm
A tad disappointed with their beta release… lots of issues from regular websites viewing… from facebook apps not working properly (e.g. friends for sale, unable to buy) to java not working properly (fancybox and clones, works on first click, second click gets you no where), poor flash performance (interactive charts a choppy). Of course all the above work great in FF and IE. I see this becoming a web development nightmare in having to dealing with more web browser that behaves differently even though they claim to be standard compliant.
I question the lack of options chrome offers… I miss having my cache cleared automatically for me upon exit or all the neat add-ons (but give it time for add-ons)…
As with the rest of Google apps, this will stay in Beta stages for years to come…
I do love the multi-layer approach to loading webpages as it makes some pages load much faster. I just don’t see the flash or java support being up there… unless they all have to be tweaked for chrome?
Why don’t they just jump in bed (deeper) with FF and combine the two to make one heck of a browser?… for now I’m sticking with FF and IE…
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#1720.09.08 10:01 pm
I’m kind of torn now on Chrome. I’ve converted to Chrome from IE and it’s safer and faster. But now Google doesn’t even have Chrome on their homepage. Is it going to be a word of mouth thing now? I don’t want to use a browser technology only to find it’s not going to be supported anymore. But this is a great first beta which is why I’m on it.
#1820.09.08 10:03 pm
I’m kind of torn now on Chrome. I’ve converted to Chrome from IE and it’s safer and faster. But now Google doesn’t even have Chrome on their homepage. Is it going to be a word of mouth thing now? I don’t want to use a browser technology only to find it’s not going to be supported anymore. But this is a great first beta which is why I’m on it.
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#1905.10.08 11:34 am
Thanks for sharing.
#20I believe that although at the moment google chrome is a little glitchy and does not have too many features, with a little time to develope it may compete with or maybe even pass firefox to become the number 1 web browser.
27.10.08 4:58 pm
I have a fair number of plugins installed and I can’t say I noticed any slowing in FF.
It’s not like my ‘puter is new either. Are you sure it’s not something else?
#2113.11.08 8:17 am
I’m currently using Firefox; but Chrome seems nice and fast too so I might give it a try. Thanks!
#22