Ok, I spent the last week using Google Chrome as my default browser to see if it was any better than Firefox and the results are in. Before I reveal which browser I have decided to go with I’ll give you my experience of installing and using Chrome.
- Downloading and installing Chrome was very easy. When I installed Chrome, it recognised that Firefox was my default browser and asked me did I want to import my settings. When I said yes it imported all my Bookmarks and saved passwords, which meant I was up and running straight away.
- The main reason I wanted to try Chrome was that I had heard that it was quicker and it was. But it was only marginally quicker and for most pages there was no real difference.
- I did like the Chrome interface. It is very clean, simple to use and has some nice features like opening multiple pages on startup.
- While there are not the same number of extensions available for Chrome, most of the useful ones are.
Having used Chrome for a week, yesterday I switched back to Firefox to compare again. The first thing Firefox did was ask me to upgrade to the latest version which was released during the last week (3.6.10).
When I switched back I could not perceive any change in speed (might be the upgrade to 3.6.10). Also with a quick search I was able to get Firefox to open multiple pages on startup.
At the end of the day I have decided to stay with Firefox for several reasons;
- For everyday use there is no perceivable speed difference.
- The availability of extensions and a strong Open-Source development community is a big plus.
- In some ways I view Google the same as I view Microsoft. I don’t think it’s a good idea for Microsoft to dominate the Operating System market and the Applications market. It stifles innovation and allows for abuse of a dominant market position. In the same way I don’t think it would be good for Google to dominate the Internet Applications market and the browser market. Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan and user of Gmail, Google Apps and Android.
- As a final note I have seen the latest Firefox 4 Beta and it appears to have a similar clean, user friendly interface. So there is a clear path for the future.
Here is another useful article which addresses the same issue.
Finally, just to throw the cat among the pigeons, Microsoft have just released Internet Explorer 9 Beta. So that’s another one I’ll have to check out.
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