My Web Got Chromed

How Google Chrome dethroned Mozilla Firefox on my system?

As far as I can remember, I have been using firefox way back since my college days. The tabbed interface and the number of extensions available for you to customize your browsing experience was such a sweet deal compared to the default browser that ships with the OS on most systems. For a time, all was good and fun until I decided to install Google Chrome alongside Firefox.

First Impressions Last

I was skeptic at first to try this plain looking browser because it was new and it doesn’t always mean good. Until I ran it for the first time. My initial impression was, its blazing fast! You just can’t help but notice this when you get used to running firefox on a daily basis. But wait until you’ve tried running Chrome, (oh scratch that) you dont have to wait at all. As of this writing, I tried running a fresh install of firefox 3.6.6 and it took 17 seconds to be at least web ready. I also tried to time Chrome’s startup, with extensions already installed, and it only took 5 seconds to boot and be usable. There is no doubt that once I installed my favorite extensions on Firefox, it might take longer to startup.

Icing on the cake

For a time, I was switching between firefox and chrome for web browsing, because Chrome did not have extensions when it first launched. Browser extensions helps in the web experience especially when you are usually online and the browser is a staple on your monitor.

My Firefox Setup

Until Google opened up the extensions gallery and came the flood of extensions that made the switch to Chrome more inevitable. That just made the deal sweeter for me. My current Chrome setup has all the necessary extensions I need for my online activites and more. Another thing that encouraged me is the minimal interface that Chrome has. It just gives you more real estate to look at. This is also possible in Firefox with some userchrome tweaks but its additional work. I came to love minimalism when it comes to interface and Chrome came with it out of the box.

Chromed!

The Browser War Goes On

For the purpose of this post, Firefox was the browser who brought something to the table, but Chrome just took it another level. Who knows? Firefox 4 could be something worth looking into, but for now its Chrome for me.

Google Chrome, its fast, it works and its loaded. There’s a lot more to say about this browser, so stay tuned.

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