Google Chrome for Mac, Linux

The Google Chrome browser is the browser who has most innovated user interfaces in these last years. It is a fast and secure alternative to the more popular browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and (to a lesser extent) Safari. Of all the web Browsers available today, Chrome is my favorite. It is much faster than Firefox, handles javascript in a much more efficient way and has a clear, non-obstrusive interface. A sand-box makes it more secure than any of the other browsers out there and it was the first browser in which each tab was a separate process (the goal of that feature is to eliminate full browser-wide crashes when a single tab malfunctions). You might call it perfect (it isn’t), but it has one major glitch: it is only available on Windows.

Does that means that Mac OS X and Linux users will just have to wait? Not quite. Developpement verions for Chrome OS are available for the two most popular alternative operating systems. You can download Google Chrome for Mac OS X or Linux (Debian, Ubuntu and similar distros only for now). Google does not recommend their use, but if you’re a Chrome fan or just want to try it out, that’s not going to stop you.
The good news is that installing the Chrome browser on you machine is really simple. All you have to do is to find your OS in this page and click on the download link. Now just follow the usual method of installation and you’re ready to go.

I’ve installed it on my Ubuntu machine, and here is what I think. Overall, the user experience is pretty good. I’ve gotten some crashes from time to time, but the browser is usable. The two most prominent problems in my view are flash (videos on websites like Youtube are buggy, interactions with flash applications is jumpy, etc.) and the abscence of Google Gears. Unless you do only very basic things on the web, you’ll be annoyed by the first. As for the latter, you probably won’t notice.
On my Ubuntu (i.e. GNOME*) partition, I’ve almost completely switched to Chrome. On Kubuntu, not yet. Integration in KDE* is (just like the one in Windows or any other environment) not really great. I find KDE Oxygen to be too beautiful to completely destroy it’s consistency, even with a great browser like chrome. I am ready to bet that most Mac OS X users will agree.
On Mac OS X, some of the privacy features are still missing. However, all of the basic functionalities Google Chrome is great for (tabs that can be wrenched out just like in the windows version for examble) are already available. At the end of the day, it’s all a matter of taste. However, it will never be a bad thing to have one more alternative browser on your platform of choice. The developer’s version of Chrome is a great for the end-user, especially seeing how close they are to a final release.

So what are you waiting for? Install it, and tell me what you think.

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*KDE stands for K Desktop Environment, which is (after GNOME) the most popular GUI (graphical User Interface) on Linux machines.

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