1 Yes
2 Yes, Pretty much for the same reasons you do, still using FF sometimes for pages with flash since Chrome still has some quirks when flash is involved.
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Yes
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I use it on my crummy laptop because it uses less system resources. I’ve gotten used to it, though I initially hated the location of my favorites folder. The one feature that it doesn’t have that I’ve noticed is an autocomplete function for forms. One thing I don’t understand is that there has been a couple of times I’ve had all my open Chrome tabs and windows crash because of some Javascript screwup, as I was under the impression that Chrome would only crash the “bad” tabs and windows and leave the others alone.
No.
N/A
I run Linux at home, and they don’t have a Linux version yet. Once they do, I’ll give it a shot.
I didn’t try it. I guess I had heard rumors of it, but your thread alerted me to it actually being available. I haven’t even checked to see if there’s a mac version yet, but even if there is I’m not going to try it yet. I’m too happy with my current browser. If it turns out to do something my other browsers don’t do that I need then maybe I’ll try it.
I tried Chrome. I immediately went back to Firefox. Among insurgent browsers, I prefer Flock to Chrome. FTR, I have never tried Opera. My browser rankings would be: 1. Firefox, 2. Flock, 3. Chrome, and 4. Internet Explorer. All four are still on my desktop.
1: Yes
2: No. For two reasons. I was unable to find an option to turn off tabbed browsing. And I didn’t find any adblock like options/plugins.
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Did you try Google Chrome? Yes, right after learning about its release in ultrafilter’s SDMB thread Sept. 2.
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If yes, are you still using it and why?
I use it mainly, now. I like the tab system better than opening new browser windows the Internet Explorer way. Tabs are a little bit faster and more intuitive, for me. And I really really like the omnibar (Search and Address field in one). Tabs combined with omnibar speeds up tasks.
Writing this reply, for instance, required fact-checking. Click open a new Chrome tab, type the query into the omnibar, and come back to the SDMB reply text box. The omnibar search is as fast as a regular Google search. The required sequence of clicks is quicker than opening a new browser window in IE and Alt/Tab-ing back and forth.
This omnibar is a wonderful thing. Disclaimer: The omnibar, or something like it, may not be a new thing in the world. The only other browser I’m familiar with is Internet Explorer. Possibly Firefox, Opera, Flock have it. I would be curious to know. And if so, do theirs work as good?
Chrome’s differentiates flawlessly which of the two you are doing – “searching” or “typing a web address.” I try to fathom its thought processes as I type something in, and it shares them – each new letter I type dramatically reshapes the range of auto-complete possibilities flashing in big pleasant green letters below the omnibar. It’s fun to watch. I don’t hesitate to do quick fact- or spell-checking involving navigating away from my main window because the process has shed some of its ponderous nature. New tabs are almost instantaneous, the omnibar is fun, so fact-checking is not so painful.
I am still not used to all my tabs closing – not just the current maximized window, as in Internet Explorer – when I mistakenly (for Chrome) try to close just one browser window using the red X at the top right of the page. Google should have given this red X a different look so new users would think twice and three times before clicking it.
Google Notebook’s browser extension for adding a mini Google Notebook to each web page, with its really convenient ‘clip’ feature, cannot be used with Chrome, oddly enough. Neither can Google Toolbar be installed.
Yes and yes. I split my browsing between Chrome, Firefox, and IE. Chrome is much more CPU-friendly than other browsers, which is important for me. I prefer the way IE handles bookmarks, but Chrome also almost gets me over my distaste for tabbed browsing.
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Yes
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No. It has the same problem that Firefox has - it is really resource hungry if you have tabs that have any Flash objects in them. Every tab uses part of the CPU even when you are not looking at it. However FF has Flashblock which stops Firefox running the Flash object until you click play. When they have something similar for Chrome I’ll give it another test.
Speaking of which, what the hell has happened to Firefox? Once I finally get it loaded, it is fine…but man, it is SLOW getting loaded these days, unlike earlier versions where I clicked, and bam, it was up and running. Now I click and can go to the kitchen, get something to drink and by the time I get back to the computer, maybe it will be up and running.
Chrome, however, just zips right up there and is ready in an instant.
Chrome is a superb browser. I’m a software developer (write web applications) and as soon as firebug plugin becomes available for chrome, I’ll be ditching firefox.
It’s extremely extremely quick at rendering the DOM and has no memory leak issues like firefox does 
- Yes, very fast
- No, not after the hoopla in the comic about tabs crashing rather than the browser. I’ve crashed the whole browser twice in a few hours of surfing total, this article pretty much reflects my experience. http://profy.com/2008/09/03/bad-news-google-chrome-crashes/
I’m not using Chrome. I found it a bit crashy, with the much vaunted process isolation failing to compensate for that, and the cosmetic stuff needs work. Promising, though.
Re Firefox, when was it ever fast to load? Perhaps back in the days when it was called Phoenix. Fortunately I rarely have to launch it since it’s always running, but it’s a painful experience when I do.
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Yes! I’m using it right now.
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I use it for lightweight browsing: email, Google Reader, and Google Docs (where I write most of my homework assignments). I still resort to Firefox anytime I think I’ll end up somewhere seedy or laden with ads and pop-ups, because FF still has solid plugins and almost never crashes. Chrome still chokes on big Flash apps and typically hangs for a few dozen seconds rather than just killing the offending tab and whizzing along.
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I just installed it, and I’m using it right now, but I’m probably going to uninstall it shortly.
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There’s no ad-blocker, and there seems to be no way to specify which websites are allowed to save cookies. I also note that middle-click scrolling doesn’t work.
2a. I just discovered that installing Google Chrome results in the Google Installer being run at startup and attempting to access the internet without asking for permission, even after uninstalling Google Chrome. This pushes my opinion of the browser from “Not as good as Firefox” to “You shall die at my hand, Google scum”.
So I’m not alone with the crash thing.
I was perplexed when it happen because that’s the main thing I remember from the Chrome cartoon.
I tried to try it. It apparently doesn’t like me, my computer, and/or XP Pro, SP3.
I’ve downloaded it, but can’t get it to install. I played along with the Help Groups for about a week and tried a bunch of different “can’t miss” workarounds, and well, I still managed to miss it.
So, for now, I’m not using it.
I just downloaded it for the first time today, expecting to remove it promptly because I’m pretty happy with IE7.
I have now switched my default browser to Chrome. It is SUBSTANTIALLY faster than IE7 or Firefox. I didn’t even realize how slow those were until I saw how fast Chrome could be.
I’m sold. If you haven’t tried it give it a shot like I just did.