eWEEK Labs Walk-Through: Google Chrome

by Jim Rapoza

Like many browsers, upon installation Google Chrome will offer to import passwords and make itself the default browser.

While Google Chrome works well on most Web sites, some sites will not identify it as an acceptable browser, a problem made worse by the difficulty of changing Chrome’s user agent.

When Google Chrome blocks pop-up windows, a small pop-up in the lower right corner of the browser notifies the user of the block.

The first time a user accesses many areas of Chrome, the browser provides information on that area’s features.

Password management in Google Chrome is pretty standard, with the yellow bar asking if the user wants to save a password for a site.

When a new tab is opened in Chrome, thumbnails of the most frequently visited Web sites are displayed, along with recent bookmarks and closed tabs.

The well-implemented Google Gears integration in Google Chrome makes it possible to convert a Web-based application into a form of desktop application.

The Gears integration, called application shortcuts in Chrome, lets users take applications such as Gmail and launch them from the desktop or start menu without launching a separate browser window.

The nicely implemented tabbed windows in Google Chrome can be easily manipulated; for example, dragging a tab outside of the browser creates a new window of that site.

Google Chrome comes with its own built-in task manager, which makes it possible to easily close tabs or windows of hanging sites without restarting the entire browser.

Incognito mode in Google Chrome is a private browsing feature that lets users surf without saving traces of their browsing session in history or other areas of the browser.

A hooded spy icon in the upper left-hand corner of the Chrome browser reminds users that they are surfing in Incognito mode.

Like most modern browsers, Google Chrome has a safe browsing feature that warns users before they go to known malware Web sites.

A small bar at the bottom of the browser displays any files being downloaded.

Rather than a download manager window, Google Chrome uses a browser page to help users view and manage downloaded files.

A similar page-based browser history window has very nice features for searching for pages stored in the browser history.

A nicely implemented JavaScript console helps developers view troublesome code on Web sites.

Google Chrome provides only the most basic settings and customization options for users.