When Google Chrome first came out I was excited because it was new and hoped it would receive more wide-spread adoption or at least help kill IE 6 so we don’t have to deal with design and development issues with it. I’ve used Chrome sporadically ever since if was released and followed it’s acceptance. I can’t say that I’ve switched to it though as I just don’t like looking at the thing. In other words, you can take away my Firefox when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. I use Firefox for development since there really is no substitute for it for a developer. Firefox has changed the way web development is done. With Firebug, Yslow and the myriad of other plug-ins you just can’t beat it. Also for my off-work hours not quite sure when those are but when I browse for fun it’s with Firefox as well as you just can’t beat it for a browser.
Okay, now after having heard my testament to Firefox there can be no speculation that I’m just a Google fan boy. I can say right now that I love Firefox, heck I even have my black Firefox t-shirt on right now. Any positives I have to say about Chrome from this point on would be in comparison to Firefox which I believe is the best browser, so the bar is set very high.
So let’s give Chrome another try today and see how it stacks up. Here is what Google says about its product.
Fast start-up
Google Chrome launches in a snap.
Okay, fast start up. Yep, it started fast, but then again just about every program I have starts fast unless you’re looking a Photoshop is this really an issue. Any difference in the start up time is really negligible and unimportant. For fast loading I’ve got to say it was a tie.
Fast loading
Google Chrome loads web pages quickly.
I tried out a few heavy pages like ESPN and others with video content and there wasn’t perceptable difference. So I then Googled browser speed tests and found the following.
The visual test – navigating the 3D JavaScript world
I love this simple speed test and you can quickly see the difference if you have multiple browsers installed on your system (you should if you consider yourself a web developer). Go to Canvascape – “Experimenting With Textures” developed by Ben Joffe. Change the resolution to High (click on the “Apply” button) and visually compare how fast the web browsers display the textured 3D world (inspired by Wolfenstein).
Running against the latest Firefox I’ve got to say Google out performed Firefox in this test. There is a noticeable difference in the smoothness and speed of walking around the maze. Google Chrome is the clear winner of this point at least for this test.
Another test I ran was to see how the JavaScript engines in each browser compared. To do this I ran the benchmark tool at http://jsbenchmark.celtickane.com. It wasn’t even close. Chrome was at least 2-3 times faster. So applications that run a lot of JavaScript like web based email clients I think this would make a substantial difference. Google Chrome is the clear winner again.
Google Chrome
Average Score: 456 ± 0
| 1. |
Quicksort |
35.8 |
| 2. |
Factorials |
178.9 |
| 3. |
Conway |
58.2 |
| 4. |
Ribosome |
40.4 |
| 5. |
MD5 |
17 |
| 6. |
Primes |
31.4 |
| 7. |
Genetic Salesman |
48.4 |
| 8. |
Arrays |
10 |
| 9. |
Dates |
18.3 |
| 10. |
Exceptions |
1 |
FireFox 3.5
Average Score: 160 ± 0
| 1. |
Quicksort |
14.5 |
| 2. |
Factorials |
16.2 |
| 3. |
Conway |
35.2 |
| 4. |
Ribosome |
15.3 |
| 5. |
MD5 |
19.1 |
| 6. |
Primes |
16.1 |
| 7. |
Genetic Salesman |
5.7 |
| 8. |
Arrays |
18.1 |
| 9. |
Dates |
8.8 |
| 10. |
Exceptions |
11.3 |
Fast search
Search the web right from the address bar.
This one is pretty clear cut, Google has search integrated into the url location so you can type an address or search right form that box. Okay, I guess this is a fraction of a percent better as with Firefox I have to click in the Google search box right NEXT to the url box. Is it a big deal, probably slightly more than the start up issue but not enough to get me to switch browsers.
I have two problems with Google Chrome that will keep me from using it as my browser. The first is that I’m a designer/developer and can’t live without Firebug. There’s no way I could use Google Chrome to develop with. Now if you’re not developing and just want to use it to browse YouTube , blogging or your favorite sites I could see this. I’d recommend it to my family, wife or children as it is a very fast browser and has some nice functionality. For development though there’s no question. I wouldn’t feel bad for Chrome though, this is one of the same reasons I don’t use Internet Explorer anymore to develop (only for testing).
The second issue I have with Chrome is that like all Google tools they’re just not as visually attractive as other products. This is an important issue but not the most important or I’d be using Safari for Windows. For me Chrome and Safari are neck-and-neck for my back-up browser. I use them about equally the same, which is about 5% of my time. I do think Chrome has come a long way though. I mean if you compare it to any version of Internet Explorer it’s much cleaner and nicer to look at.
To sum it all up I don’t think using Chrome again today has changed how I’ve felt about it. I know its a good browser, it’s fast and search engine friendly but for a development environment I just can’t leave Firefox behind.
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