Well that was my first reaction when I eagerly downloaded the new Google web browser and was greeted by this…

Followed by this

Luckily we live in world where solutions for this kind of thing are just a search away. I soon discovered that it was a conflict with my anti-virus program and located a quick fix (here is the fix in case anyone else is having the same problem http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=38#c26 ).

Once this had been sorted the fun started to begin.  My first impression was that Chrome had a clean interface with blue hues that were soothing to the eye. Once I started browsing I realised that it was quicker on certain pages than my existing browser. This is due to the V8 JavaScript engine that Chrome uses to render certain elements. Firefox has hit back by saying its new engine that its developing for the new Firefox will be much faster than V8. It has the “One box for everything” functionality where you can type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages. The ability for the program to continue running even if one of your tabs has crashed is also invaluable.

The ” Dynamic tabs” options where you can drag tabs out of the browser to create new windows, gather multiple tabs into one window or arrange your tabs however you wish – quickly and easily is also a time saver.

The Opera like speed dial home page of Chrome is particularly useful. Chrome lists your most visited web sites making it not only a clean, fast browser but intuitive as well. Its incognito mode where all windows browsed in that mode leave no traces is particularly useful for all those illicit browsing activities (not that I would know anything about that ). The general buzz on the web is very positive but Chrome has a few bugs but considering that it is only a beta version, it’s a tremendous first iteration.

Now the bad

Wikipedia describes Chrome (or Chromium to be technical) as It is a steel-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odourless, tasteless, and malleable. That’s pretty much how I feel about Chrome, it lacks the plug ins and personality of a Firefox and the tried and tested feeling of Internet Explorer. However it does look pretty and takes a whole lot of damage before it crashes.

So while phenomenal as a first effort I’m not about to make it my default browser just yet.