Google Chrome

With Chrome your javascript execution is going from a Model-T to a F/A-18. Like I said, it’s really noticeable.

I’ve been playing around with Google’s Chrome browser. I’ve used it at home where it sometimes replaces Firefox which always replaces Internet Explorer. In and of itself this isn’t a big deal. I’m a geeky, nerdy-boy. You would expect me to dabble in new tech that’s still in beta.

The reason I’m telling you (hopefully for your own sake you’re less geeky than me) is there is a difference in browsers–a difference you can notice. Chrome is crazy fast.

From what I hear the real slowdown in most web surfing is javascript. That’s a computer language sent from a website but executed on your machine. It is the real bottleneck on the web. With Chrome your javascript execution is going from a Model-T to a F/A-18. Like I said, it’s really noticeable.

At work where my desktop machine is old, slow and runs Xubuntu Linux, Chrome has added new life. That’s especially true with Gmail, a site heavy on javascript and a site I’m constantly checking.

Chrome isn’t without its problems. There are few plugins currently available for it. I use plugins with Firefox to extend my browser’s capabilities and miss them. On the Linux machine I haven’t yet figured out how to load Java (completely different from javascript) or Flash. It’s possible it’s not yet capable of running Java and Flash.

Chrome is not quite ready for prime time, but there is a great deal of promise.

You would assume by now browsers would be mature technology with little low hanging fruit. As it turns out–no.