# Chrome **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2013, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602 "2013-01-28T09:32:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/1 "2013-01-28T09:32:28Z")
I’m thinking about downloading Chrome and I would greatly appreciate any and all opinions regarding Chrome, either pro or con. As always, thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/2 "2013-01-28T09:44:54Z")
Pro: it’s free. No harm in trying. Con: it gives Google a great way to find out even more about you. This may or may not bother you. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/3 "2013-01-28T11:47:10Z")
I switched to Chrome recently. Firefox was becoming increasingly troublesome. (I still run Firefox when I want to download a copy of a Youtube – is there a way to do that with Chrome?) > [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Con: it gives Google a great way to find out even more about you. This may or may not bother you. My ageing life is too tame to worry about this. For younger people, it seems like the privacy ship has sailed already, to little concern. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/4 "2013-01-28T12:03:45Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Con: it gives Google a great way to find out even more about you. This may or may not bother you. Con? I like Google. And it’s kinda cool when I am typing a search, enter one letter, and Google guesses correctly what I want, even though even I didn’t realize it until that very moment. ETA: what septimus said. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/5 "2013-01-28T12:27:21Z")
Mac user. Used Safari forever, then found Firefox a much cleaner browsing experience. After a while I checked out Chrome, and while I dug its lightweight feel, I kept going back to FF or Safari out of habit, I think. Until I found myself start opening Chrome more and more and it just clicked. So, I set it to my default browser. They all have their pros/cons, but for fast launching and browsing, it feels like Chrome has less bloat. I do wish its history/bookmarks were handled in a way that feels integrated in the app (Safari wins out here, IMHO), rather than feeling like its through HTML served off some crappy intranet page. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/6 "2013-01-28T13:29:27Z")
I’ve been using Firefox for years, but recently I’ve been using Chrome more and more as my regular browser. For me there are two problems that prevent me from going all the way. 1. I have yet to find a RSS ticker. I absolutely love the ticker, and couldn’t possibly go back to normal RSS readers. 2. I have yet t find a way to auto clear your browsing history on exit. You can set it to clear your cookies, but not your history. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/7 "2013-01-28T13:58:23Z")
I switched from FF to Chrome a couple of years back, and I love it. It just feels smoother, it has fewer weird quirks. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/8 "2013-01-28T14:17:17Z")
Thanks for the replies. I use Firefox now but I feel like it’s getting a little bit cumbersome. Besides all that, I don’t get out and about all that much and I’m a little bit bored. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/9 "2013-01-28T14:47:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Con? I like Google. And it’s kinda cool when I am typing a search, enter one letter, and Google guesses correctly what I want, even though even I didn’t realize it until that very moment. This. Advertising is not supposed to be annoying – if I see an ad and am annoyed by it, then I am less likely to buy the product advertised and no one wins. The more Google knows about me, the more likely that it is going to serve me a non-annoying ad, maybe for something that I’ll actually want, and both me and the advertiser will benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/10 "2013-01-28T19:59:29Z")
Chrome is lightweight and fast. I like that about it. But it just doesn’t have the luxuries. Bookmarks are clunky, history is weird, and searching in a page really sucks. It also has issues with formatting a page for printing. So I use it for light browsing, but keep Firefox on hand (despite its issues) for serious work. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/11 "2013-01-28T20:15:46Z")
con: it won’t get ya home. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/12 "2013-01-28T21:08:09Z")
I switched to Chrome last year, when IE9 forced itself on my computer and ruined my ability to enjoy my favorite web sites. I have absolutely no complaints. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/13 "2013-01-28T21:47:45Z")
I’m disappointed that Chrome still doesn’t support [IPA characters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA#Consonants). It replaces many of them with blank rectangles. It does the same to many entire alphabets. This is because its fonts just don’t support the characters—even when I’ve downloaded and installed the font in question. It also messes up data entry when I’m trying to edit a Wikipedia article using any of a number of IPA characters. I read a lot on linguistic subjects, and for anything involving phonetics (which is most of the time) or certain foreign alphabets, I’m forced to open up Firefox, which can handle them, fortunately. I keep wondering when Chrome will finally get its fonts in gear, or whether they ever will. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/14 "2013-01-28T22:14:22Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > I have yet t find a way to auto clear your browsing history on exit. You can set it to clear your cookies, but not your history. You need incognito mode. CTRL+Shift+N. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/15 "2013-01-28T22:40:40Z")
I test out Chrome from time to time, sometimes use Firefox but almost always use Opera. Chrome and FF just don’t do tabs right. Opera does. This is the crucial for me. If a browser doesn’t know how to minimize a tab, it isn’t worth dealing with. This is a truly surprising deficiency to see persisting over so many releases of Chrome. (FF developers have a “take it or leave it” attitude. Chrome developers are a bit more open minded.) ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/16 "2013-01-28T22:49:59Z")
I’ve never used Opera. How does “minimize a tab” work? What does it do? ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/17 "2013-01-29T00:00:14Z")
I used Opera for years but switched to Chrome 2 years ago. I’m now thinking about switching to Firefox. If I leave Chrome open for over an hour typing into the address bar takes forever, sometimes up to 10 seconds to register the first keystroke. I’ve turned off the prediction service, cleared the cache, and still it persists. The pop up blocker kind of sucks too, I found myself having to install the Better Pop Up Blocker extension. Regarding Adblock or Adblock Plus, in older versions of Chrome the ads would still load, they just wouldn’t be shown. They claim they have fixed that in the latest versions, but I still see the ads load up before quickly vanishing. Chrome could be a very good browser, and for many people I’m sure it is. But the shortcoming and bugs are starting to wear out my patience. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/18 "2013-01-29T02:59:36Z")
Clean, smooth, modern, fast. I use Chrome at home and like it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/19 "2013-01-29T03:11:30Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I’m disappointed that Chrome still doesn’t support [IPA characters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA#Consonants). It replaces many of them with blank rectangles. It does the same to many entire alphabets. This is because its fonts just don’t support the characters—even when I’ve downloaded and installed the font in question. It also messes up data entry when I’m trying to edit a Wikipedia article using any of a number of IPA characters. I read a lot on linguistic subjects, and for anything involving phonetics (which is most of the time) or certain foreign alphabets, I’m forced to open up Firefox, which can handle them, fortunately. I keep wondering when Chrome will finally get its fonts in gear, or whether they ever will. I’m on Chrome on Win7x64 and every single IPA character on the Wikipedia page you mentioned displayed correctly, not to mention they always display correctly elsewhere as well. What OS are you on? How did you install the font? Did you try installing the various language packs through Windows Update if you’re on Windows? ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602/20 "2013-01-29T03:27:35Z")
If you don’t sync with Chrome, is privacy still an issue? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome/648602.md?page=2)