03 Jun 08 Why did Google name their Browser "Chrome"?

If you are wondering why Google named their browser, “Chrome”, here’s my opinion.

First Hint

At the first sight of Google “Chrome”, I thought it was basically a modified version of Firefox, based on the same open-source Gecko engine used by Firefox.

Another Hint

Another hint was that the default GUI theme is called, “Chrome” for Firefox.  (As a Firefox extension developer who have developed the SiteHoppin Toolbar for Firefox, I can contest that Chrome has always been a widely used term for Firefox programmers.)

Proof

If you don’t believe me, take a look at this directory (H:\Documents and Settings\max\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xdorv70b.default) in your Windows system file where you should rename “max” to your Windows user name and xdorv70b.default would be something-similar.default.

If you open up extensions directory from there and open up any of the directories inside it, (each folder is a Firefox extension) you will probably notice that almost every Firefox extension uses a file called, chrome.manifest.  (Yes, even file names with “Chrome” in Firefox)

To sum it up, I am not saying Google Chrome was taken from Firefox but only that “Chrome” has always been widely known among the Firefox Development crowd.

Coincidence or not, you be the judge. Tags:application data, coincidence, crowd, documents and settings, firefox extension, gecko, google, Google Chrome Hacks, modified version, open source, profiles, programmers, windows system, windows user

03 Jun 08 Google Chrome Hack – 3D Pipe Screensaver and more!

For starters, goto your Chrome Browser and type, “about:internets“.  Now, that’s a cool 3D Pipe app.  I don’t know why it’s there but it’s always cool to find new things about the Google Chrome Browser.

I am sure there’s more hacks, if you find them, please send them to tips [at] chrome-hacks.net.

Here’s a couple more:

about:version – version info on Google Chrome
about:stats
about:memory
about:plugins
about:histograms
about:cache
about:dns
about:crash - will show the pitiful crash icon

via stikiflem Tags:3d pipe, cool 3d, crash, google, Google Chrome Hacks, hack, hacks, histograms, memory, starters

03 Jun 08 Enable Chrome's Features in Firefox!

Although it is kinda pointless to enable Chrome’s features in Firefox, (since the greatest part about Chrome is that it comes with the features as default) there’s a way to make almost every feature of the Google Chrome browser available in your good ol’ Firefox.

Of course, adding all these plugins will slow down your Firefox greatly.  Better yet, simply use 2 different browsers for now until the Chrome gets better and better.

The only thing I miss about Firefox IS all the plugins though.  (I couldn’t live without them)

I will have to wait too until they can make Firefox plugins compatible with Chrome.  (which I doubt would happen)

For tips on how to hack your Firefox browser to look like Chrome, go to Lifehacker here. Tags:firefox browser, google, Google Chrome Hacks

03 Jun 08 Cool Drag and Drop Tabbing Feature on the Chrome Browser!

Tags:Chrome Features, drag and drop, drop style, firefox, google, new feature, tabs, www youtube

03 Jun 08 Google Chrome About:Stats Hack!

For the most recent stats on the Google Chrome, you can type about:stats on your browser window.  You will get a nice stats page like above.

You can even figure out how long it took Chrome to process itself by filtering the stats page with keyword, “Chrome”.

Here’s a cool example of using the stats page to display how long it took to load Chrome browser.(exactly that is)

name	count time (ms)
Chrome:Init	764
History:InitTime	874
Gears:LoadTime	7
Chrome:ProcMsgL IO	99521

via unlockforus Tags:browser window, count time, gears, google, Google Chrome Hacks, hack, time ms

03 Jun 08 Google Chrome has its own "Task Manager"!

The biggest difference between Google Chrome and Firefox/IE is the fact that Chrome has its own Task Manager.

To access the Task Manager in Google Chrome, goto Developer->Task Manager menu as shown below:

As you will see, the Task Manager is very accurate with stats of memory, CPU, and network of each tab, plugin, and the Browser itself.  (Now these are actually all different processes in the actual Windows system’s Task Manager too, you can look here for some more info on that.)

Of course, the point of having a Task Manager is that every Tab is managed more efficiently plus you have one window for ending any processes that are causing frozen-windows or simply taking too long to load.

If you click on “Stats for nerds” under the Task Manager, you will also get to see even more detailed stats on the processes running.  This sorta reminds me of a Linux system where every detail is accessible by the user unlike Windows.

Our verdict is that the Task Manager on Google Chrome is even better than Windows operating system Task Manager as you get what you see.

This Task Manager might be a great way for developers to add more functions, especially since the Google Chrome is completely open-source.  (Yes, you can build your own browser on top of it if you want) Tags:Chrome Features, developers, google, linux, linux system, manager menu, memory, nerds, open source, sorta, task manager, windows operating system, windows system

03 Jun 08 Speed Test – Google Chrome versus Firefox and IE!

The guys over at Lifehacker did a nice little test on the 3 different browsers, Google Chrome, Firefox, and IE 8b2.

Above shows that Chrome did load faster when loading 8 tabs.

For CSS, Google Chrome comes out on top due to the fast CSS processing system.  I can agree with this one as I have personally noticed a lot of my sites with heavy CSS files loaded up very fast on the Google Chrome.

In their test, Lifehacker team states that Firefox still beats Chrome in memory consumption but I think it’s hard to compare the memory as Chrome uses multiple processes with smaller memory blocks.  (For example of this, you can refer to this post here.)

In all, Google Chrome is still in its beta stages so time will tell which browser wins the “speed war”.

Do note, however, that Chrome handles tabs differently than others—each tab loads as its own process, so that if it crashes or stalls, the rest of your reading doesn’t go down with it. So if you’ve got solid-state chips to spare, it’s not that much more of a hit to run Chrome in a busy session.

via Lifehacker Tags:beta stages, Chrome Speed Tests, firefox, google, memory blocks, memory consumption, processing system, speed test, tabs

03 Jun 08 Google Chrome Launched with Multi-Threading Technology!

Google Chrome has just been launched (and of course our new Chrome Hacks blog along with it) with multi-threading technology that makes use of multiple processes (in Windows system) instead of traditional 1-process approach. (which is taken by IE and Firefox)

It’s still unclear how beneficial Google Chrome’s multi-threading technology is but in my experience, it does help.

You can read more about Google Chrome’s multi-threading technology over here.

Here’s an excerpt from Google Chrome Page:

Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today’s complex web applications much better . By keeping each tab in an isolated “sandbox”, we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built V8, a more powerful JavaScript engine, to power the next generation of web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.

This is just the beginning – Google Chrome is far from done. We’ve released this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We’re hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and we’ll continue to make it even faster and more robust.

Tags:beta, excerpt from, google, Google Chrome Hacks, hacks, linux, next generation, responsiveness, sandbox, web applications, windows system

03 Jun 08 Welcome to Google Chrome Hacks!

Welcome to Google Chrome Hacks Blog!

We have created this blog in order to keep up with the latest tips, hacks, and news about the new open-source browser Chrome from Google.

Please feel free to send us any tips or hacks you find to tips[at]chrome-hacks.net Tags:Google Chrome Hacks

30 Jun 99 Chrome Officially Coming to Macs Soon!

Here’s some good news that Chrome will be coming to Macs soon “officially”!

Pinkerton told Ars that Chrome’s integration with OS X goes deep. When designing Chrome, it was Pinkerton’s role to make sure that the application’s architecture would not exclude what the browser needed to do on any of its target platforms, while at the same time leveraging as many native capabilities as possible. “We wanted to do as much as possible to work with native services, from threading and the Mach layer through working with the native keychain and with PDFkit. We wanted it to feel like a real Macintosh application, from using stored passwords and the address book to Spotlight.”

via artstechnica Tags:application, Ars, artstechnica, chrome, Chrome Rumors, Macintosh, macs, PDFkit, Pinkerton