Do you think you need a new browser?  If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer you may think you do or if you use Firefox 3 maybe you think you don’t.  No matter, giant Google thinks you do and has released a beta version of their new Google Chrome browser.

Why Google thinks we need a new browser

The Chrome developers say that all of the current browsers were invented before web services and with the new way people use the web it’s time for a modern browser for today’s web they said they emphasized speed, stability and security.  Their intention was to design Chrome using a minimalist approach wherein you don’t have to think about the browser or even see it that much, the emphasis is on the web page.

There is truth in this, today’s AJAX and Web 2.0 applications use plenty of a technology called javascript, here the developers say they tore apart the javascript engine and rebuilt it for speed.

What Chrome does

We’ve taken a look at Google Chrome and found some interesting features:

• One box for everything — there is no separate search, bookmarks or history box.  Just type in the one entry box and Chrome will search for you or offer alternatives from you bookmarks or sites you’ve already visited.
• When you install Chrome it will import your bookmarks and passwords from Firefox or Internet Explorer so you’re good to go when you start using Chrome.
• Instead of the usual download manager window, Chrome shows downloads at the bottom of the screen while they are downloading.
• Google Chrome includes an interesting feature that we’ve been seeing lately in utilities and next generation browsers — the ability to create mini-applicatiions out of web sites for the kinds of sites you might keep open all day — for me, Gmail.  The mini-app gets it’s own desktop shortcut and looks more like a regular application than a browser.
• When you open a new tab, the first page you see is a favorites page that has been built by Chrome of the pages you most often visit.
• The tabs are dynamic and their position can be moved around.  You can also move tabs between windows and pull a tab off of one window and make it a new window of its own.
• From an internal perspective, each tab runs independently of other tabs so that it something bad happens(like the website causes the browser to crash) to one tab it won’t effect other tabs or cause Chrome to crash.
• Since each tab is separate, Chrome gives you a nice feature called the Task manager that lets you see the status of each tab and optionally shut one down if it’s using too much of your computer’s resources.
• A browser window can be opened “Incognito” which means no records are kept of where you search in that window — let’s face it, that kind of behavior is called Porn-mode in other browsers  — it “protects your privacy”.
• Google Chrome starts up quickly and is fairly fast at displaying web pages.  When it reopens, it remembers your tabs from your last session.
• Chrome makes use of Google Gears which allows many web sites to be used when you’re offline.

Google Chrome is fully open source so you won’t be tied to any operating system or, eventually, platform.

Our Verdict?