Google Chrome Runs The Internet GauntletFirst impressions generally favorable, though questions arise... 11:38AM Wednesday Sep 03 2008 by Karl Bodetags: business · software · contentTipped by TK Junk Mail  Google's new browser, Chrome, has been out for less than one day, and has spent much of that time being run through the Internet gauntlet. Early tests show that the browser is faster than IE and Firefox at running Javascript (something the Firefox team disputes), and beats both of those browsers in the Acid3 test. On the flip side, the beta product is already dealing with early security vulnerabilities, while questions are being raised over whether Chrome's terms of service are too broad: By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. Wired News meanwhile sits down with the Chrome development team to discuss why the search giant jumped head first into the browser (and technically the web OS) wars.
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koitsu
Premium
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
| GoogleUpdate.exe And let's not forget about this little undocumented beauty which doesn't even get uninstalled if you remove Chrome.
Our Security forum guys are going to have a field day with this one.
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I speak for myself and not my employer/affiliates of my employer. | |
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DaSneaky1D
one wall to block them all
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-29
The Lou | Re: GoogleUpdate.exe You can uninstall Google Update....
It's used to deliver updates to the Google Apps you have on your PC. Talk, Picasa, Maps....ect.
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:: my trivial ramblings :: | |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| Re: GoogleUpdate.exe said by DaSneaky1D :You can uninstall Google Update.... It's used to deliver updates to the Google Apps you have on your PC. Talk, Picasa, Maps....ect. And the Google Toolbar also uses Google Update. | |
| | birdfeedr
Premium
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI
 ·Verizon FIOS
| GoogleUpdate.exe also has an options panel where you have to click to display the normally obscured Advanced Options, where one of them is "Upload non-personal aggregate data" clicked by default. At least when I updated GoogleEarth.
Too bad there's nothing that says *what* is being uploaded. If they just wanted to know what someone is searching for, why do they need my computer to tell them? Can't they aggregate their data at their server?
Internet is making me think more "Luddite" and starting to trust Google less and less. | |
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rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA
| Re: GoogleUpdate.exe The Updater also defaults to automatically update installed software, so you might want to change that option in the Advanced panel to either "notify" of updates or to check manually only and not get any notification. Most applications have a "check for updates" or the like in the Help panel, so there's really no need for automatic updates. For a browser, however, automatic updates might make sense from a security standpoint, so you get an update whenever there is a security issue discovered. | |
| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| said by birdfeedr :Internet is making me think more "Luddite" and starting to trust Google less and less. Google's business model is data mining, they had almost no ads, and they offer stuff for free. I doubt they subsidize free services with adwords money. | |
| | ausdog
join:2001-03-29
Catawba, NC | To get Java to run in Chrome you have to enable Mozilla Family in Java Applet in Control Panel. | |
| | ausdog
join:2001-03-29
Catawba, NC | PS. To get Java to run in Chrome you have to enable Mozilla Family in Java Applet in Control Panel. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
| Pretty Nice While I have been rooting for the browser's demise because of having to code around "yet another browser," Chrome seems to stick to Firefox's JS implementation. Maybe it is not so bad.
My biggest gripe so far is that I cannot get anti-aliased fonts to work like they do in IE.
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"At the moment of conception." | |
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Derspankster
Premium
join:2003-02-12
Marion, OH | Wouldn't Know There's no Linux version yet. | |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
edit:
September 3rd, @11:51AM
| Re: Wouldn't Know said by Derspankster :There's no Linux version yet. Or OS X either
No ad blocking capability is a no starter for me. I have ads blocked in FF and IE7.
Also the javascript engine, while VERY fast is having problems on some sites.
And the scroll bar when using the touchpad on my laptop won't scroll up. But the wireless USB mouse works fine.
They have 6 months of development to do yet before I would even consider using it on a regular basis. | |
| | | 
Matt
Running Free
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
 ·Corporate Colocation
| Re: Wouldn't Know Hey Tk, you're not alone on the mouse problem - although my T60 isn't affected - Google is aware of it. There's a lengthy post in the Google Groups about it.
The no ad blocking is an annoyance, but not really that big of a deal for me. I don't visit sites that have annoying ads and I'd like the site owners where I visit to earn a buck. I can see how some people would hate it though so I'm sure a plugin will come along soon.
On what sites is JS wonky for you? I do a LOT with JS and I haven't had any issues.
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Linux Haters Unite! | |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
| Re: Wouldn't Know said by Matt :On what sites is JS wonky for you? I do a LOT with JS and I haven't had any issues. I can't give you instances now. But when I tested out Chrome yesterday, the problems cropped up in the interaction between Flash player and a script. The Flash player wouldn't start automatically and even when clicking on the flash frame, it wouldn't respond. But that page worked OK in FF. I don't have the page, because when I close my browsers I wipe out history , cache, etc.
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Matt
Running Free
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
·Corporate Colocation
| Re: Wouldn't Know said by TK Junk Mail :said by Matt :On what sites is JS wonky for you? I do a LOT with JS and I haven't had any issues. I can't give you instances now. But when I tested out Chrome yesterday, the problems cropped up in the interaction between Flash player and a script. The Flash player wouldn't start automatically and even when clicking on the flash frame, it wouldn't respond. But that page worked OK in FF. I don't have the page, because when I close my browsers I wipe out history , cache, etc. I gotcha. I had weird problems with Flash too. It's like the flash plugin had to initialize to work properly. The first flash page I tried to view was all screwy. Things were misplaced and broken into sections. I closed Chrome and re-opened it and flash worked properly and has ever since.
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Linux Haters Unite! | |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
edit:
September 3rd, @12:46PM
| Re: Wouldn't Know said by Matt :said by TK Junk Mail :said by Matt :On what sites is JS wonky for you? I do a LOT with JS and I haven't had any issues. I can't give you instances now. But when I tested out Chrome yesterday, the problems cropped up in the interaction between Flash player and a script. The Flash player wouldn't start automatically and even when clicking on the flash frame, it wouldn't respond. But that page worked OK in FF. I don't have the page, because when I close my browsers I wipe out history , cache, etc. I gotcha. I had weird problems with Flash too. It's like the flash plugin had to initialize to work properly. The first flash page I tried to view was all screwy. Things were misplaced and broken into sections. I closed Chrome and re-opened it and flash worked properly and has ever since. I did finally run across one I can document.
Signing in to my Hallmark.com account. It just locks up after providing sign in data and hitting submit. But that works fine in FF & IE.
I also found a description online of someone else with this problem. »expertlancer.com/google-chrome-m···essions/
P.S.> I sent off the bug report to Google development team for the hallmark.com problem.
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Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? | |
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Matt
Running Free
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
·Corporate Colocation
| Re: Wouldn't Know
Hallmark.com Sign In |
said by TK Junk Mail :I did finally run across one I can document. Signing in to my Hallmark.com account. It just locks up after providing sign in data and hitting submit. But that works fine in FF & IE. I also found a description online of someone else with this problem. » expertlancer.com/google-chrome-m···essions/ Weird. I just signed in fine. The sign in didn't pop up in a window though? I also don't have the problems with Facebook the author mentions?
I wonder if there are a couple different builds of Chrome floating around out there? I'm running 0.2.149.27.
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Linux Haters Unite! | |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
edit:
September 3rd, @12:55PM
| Re: Wouldn't Know said by Matt :said by TK Junk Mail :I did finally run across one I can document. Signing in to my Hallmark.com account. It just locks up after providing sign in data and hitting submit. But that works fine in FF & IE. I also found a description online of someone else with this problem. » expertlancer.com/google-chrome-m···essions/ Weird. I just signed in fine. The sign in didn't pop up in a window though? I also don't have the problems with Facebook the author mentions? I wonder if there are a couple different builds of Chrome floating around out there? I'm running 0.2.149.27. I just solved this problem.
1st - I have the same release of Chrome you do.
2nd - I had chosen the option in Chrome to restrict how 3rd party cookies can be used. When I changed that to "Accept ALL cookies", it all worked OK.
But I do like to restrict 3rd party cookies. So I still consider this a bug because I restrict 3rd party cookies in IE and FF and it worked OK there.
I'll have to submit the bug report to Google again with comments on the 3rd party cookie involvement.
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Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? | |
| | | | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10 | I havent tested Chrome, so I can't speak from experience. However, one would think a deep pocket company like Google would thoroughly test this out before releasing it. Maybe they are Microsoft Junior int he Making. | |
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booticon
join:2007-07-31
East Lyme, CT | Re: Wouldn't Know Yeah, because this isn't like, a beta release or anything. | |
| | | | | | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
edit:
September 3rd, @01:21PM
| Re: Wouldn't Know Well I know its a beta, but still. Wouldn't YOU WANT your best foot forward when launching something new to the public? I would, beta or not. I've never understood why companies fail to optimize their products, so Betas serve more as a proving ground than as a let's go back to the drawing board stage. It'd be much nicer for a company to say, HEY this product WORKED pretty well as we thoroughly tested it. Here you try and see, but you probably won't encounter too many issues. We've already done most of the leg work. Unfortunately, these days, companies tend to rush half finished add unproven products out. I guess its a lot cheaper to have the public beta testers tell you the flaws, than pay the coders to trial the things out themselves. Economics I guess. I'm just pointing out my view none the less.
P.S. Betas are good for UI suggestions, I agree. However, I still don't agree about them being the basis for one having to fix 10,000 various flaws. I think companies should do that work prior to release and give their best foot forward as I stated. | |
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booticon
join:2007-07-31
East Lyme, CT
| Re: Wouldn't Know I see your point, however this is where your argument falls flat: Google Chrome is open source software. I understand that's not an excuse for "bad software", but the wonderful thing about that is if you'd like, you can create your own version of Chrome using their code, and there's things like bug reports: »code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/list
I agree that Chrome has a way to go before it becomes my main browser of choice (mainly extension functionality), but for first hearing about it this past weekend, it's not looking bad so far. | |
| | | | | | | | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
edit:
September 3rd, @02:01PM
| Re: Wouldn't Know Well, I know it is open source, which allows one to customize it. Still, should one be left REDOING everything do to numerous bugs and flaws? Open source is a great concept and builds community around a program. Still, open source shouldn't be used as a ploy to skipping out on the job. I still think companies need to do more to show their best foot forward when showcasing stuff. I mean, would you want GM to beta a new car that looks good, but the breaks don't always work or it fails to start randomly? Then, GM puts this car to market, telling the consumers you need to check these and other bugs. Have fun? The same goes here, even if its just for show, you want it to be the best show ever. Google and companies can do more to help make their new software less buggy and more of an experience. Once again, my view. | |
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booticon
join:2007-07-31
East Lyme, CT
edit:
September 3rd, @02:17PM
| Re: Wouldn't Know Well, that's kinda why Google doesn't build cars. You're kinda stretching it, don't you think? | |
| | | | | | | | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Wouldn't Know it was KINDA an example only KINDA with the cars. I wasn't stretching just saying that in business, one should always try to show their best side. The better the first impression (beta or not) the more people you win over instantly. First impressions count for everything in life, whether or not we like to admit to it. | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Wouldn't Know That's the thing, automated. Then they handed it over as a beta to the public. As I said to boot, if I owned Google and I wanted to make a splash, I'd go well ABOVE the automated and have staff test it out for a bit and write down problems. The better you make it before launch (beta or otherwise) the more it shows in your favor. First impressions count and they are the thing that win people over IMMEDIATELY. How many times in life have you gone to a place, had a bad feeling, and LEFT. Everyone has done that. People see this NEW search engine being riddled with problems, and they figure why not stick to time tested ones. Firefox is a great browser, and IT ONLY has 20 percent share of the market. Hence, for Google to win people over, I'd say they'd been better making this beta more of an "experience" than simply find our problems for us type deal via open source community. | |
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TomClancy
Freedom Isn't Free
join:2003-04-23
... | I wouldn't care if the car was a beta or not if GM offered cars for free I would take and test it but unfortunately they don't unlike Google Chrome which is FREE!
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Freedom isn't free! | |
| | | | | | | | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10 | Re: Wouldn't Know Well Tom,
You're a brave man. If someone offered you an UNTESTED car, you'd really accept. Hell, I know who to call when I want a crash test dummy!! Your career future is looking bright as a dare devil. | |
| | | 
bubi73
join:2004-02-03
Mundelein, IL
| said by TK Junk Mail :said by Derspankster :There's no Linux version yet. Or OS X either No ad blocking capability is a no starter for me. I have ads blocked in FF and IE7. Also the javascript engine, while VERY fast is having problems on some sites. And the scroll bar when using the touchpad on my laptop won't scroll up. But the wireless USB mouse works fine. They have 6 months of development to do yet before I would even consider using it on a regular basis. I guess it's time to break out the old Proxomitron! | |
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rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA
| Re: Wouldn't Know said by Derspankster :I'm too lazy and/or stupid. How can you be lazy and/or stupid and also use linux as your regular OS? | |
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Derspankster
Premium
join:2003-02-12
Marion, OH
·RoadRunner Cable
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Wouldn't Know said by rcdailey :How can you be lazy and/or stupid and also use linux as your regular OS? Oh, Linux isn't that hard anymore.
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I thought I made a mistake once but I was wrong | |
| | | | dcurrey
join:2004-06-29
 ·ViaTalk
| Wouldn't matter no working browser for linux.
For the website:
Note: There is no working Chromium-based browser on Linux. Although many Chromium submodules build under Linux and a few unit tests pass, all that runs is a command-line "all tests pass" executable.
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johnqpublic
Premium
join:2002-03-22
Xanadu
| Thanks, but no thanks. I like some of Google's products for the desktop, but I don't see any reason to try their new browser any time soon. Like my philosophy (and many others') about waiting for bugs to get stamped out of operating systems and general software, I will wait until the software is further refined.
As for the claim it runs JavaScript faster than IE or Firefox, who really cares? I doubt many people experience a bottleneck waiting for their browser to run JavaScript. And this is coming from someone who generally considers themselves to be willing to live on the cutting edge.
Firefox works just fine... even if JavaScript is slowing us both down. 
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Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run, he hates that. | |
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Matt
Running Free
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
·Corporate Colocation
| Re: Thanks, but no thanks. said by johnqpublic :As for the claim it runs JavaScript faster than IE or Firefox, who really cares? I doubt many people experience a bottleneck waiting for their browser to run JavaScript. And this is coming from someone who generally considers themselves to be willing to live on the cutting edge. Believe it or not, rich web apps or ASP (application as a service) platforms that rely on AJAX are severely limited by ancient Javascript engines in IE and Firefox. The Google V8 engine really is revolutionary because it offers multi-threading ... right now Javascript can't execute on more than one processor or processor core.
While I agree that for a user of Google Maps, or GMail, or (insert home user AJAX app here) it's not a big deal, it is a big deal on the business side of things.
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Linux Haters Unite! | |
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Dude111
An Awesome Dude
Premium
join:2003-08-04
USA | quote:
I like some of Google's products for the desktop, but I don't see any reason to try their new browser any time soon.
I think its crap to be honest. | |
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gimme5
join:2002-12-23
Kissimmee, FL | I like it I've been trying it out since yesterday, and so far, I really like it. Simple, fast. | |
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MisterMarcus
join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA | Linkline DSLR speed test Locked up the Google Chrome until it was done. Rated a speed of 4Mbps. Something with how it was receiving the data from the speedtest, dunno.
Speedtest.net didn't have that issue; it rated my correct downstream of ~15Mbps. | |
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BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| The real question The real question to me is simply, why did Google feel compelled to create yet another web browser, especially in light of the recent push by Microsoft to deliver on standards compliance. If we accept that everybody is moving to embrace web standards, then the need for a Google browser makes even less sense; their services should work equally fine on everything.
The only answer that makes sense here is this browser is designed to push Google services, and most probably, add another wiretap into the browsing habits of the users of said services. The TOS hints at this pretty openly.
It seems that for whatever reason, Google gets a pass when it comes to reality checks. Reality is this is a business, they aren't making a browser to "better the web" out of the pure goodness of their hearts. They see some way push their stuff and collect more behavioral data out of this. I for one went from a Google fan back in the day when it was just their search engine, to a Google skeptic in recent days as I see more and more and more behavioral data collection, to now an anti-Google user who dropped using their services and their search engine over privacy concerns. I don't do anything I'm "scared" of anybody finding out about, so lets not do the whole "only people with something to hide would be afraid" song and dance. I just don't like the idea of Google following me around like a Private Eye anymore than I liked the idea of my ISP allowing NebuAd to collect my traffic and "tailor" the web experience to me. Sorry but there are less intrusive alternatives out there.
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"Don't steal. The government hates competition." | |
| | Shoreline
Your Freedom Fries Are Stale
join:2003-09-29
Santa Clara, CA
| Re: The real question While I agree with your concerns of privacy matters -- I am as well, in your first paragraph, it makes little sense to suggest Google shouldn't put out a browser in regards to compliance. Google has a platform to comply to, if it wants to cater to certain users (their choice), and while Microsoft has a play in web standards, it does not run the internet. | |
| | 
Koil
Obama - Socialism with a smile
join:2002-09-10
Irmo, SC
clubs:
| Yeah, because they haven't made a ton of other web based apps...this whole browser thing is completely out of left field.
Next thing they're going to make is like a...I dunno..like an email app or something even though MS and Mozilla have perfectly fine apps out there already....OH and then some kinda crazy picture service thing, or maybe some blogger software....man, these guys have some nerve! | |
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Woody79_00
join:2004-07-08
| bleh I personally will not be using chrome. The TOS are broad and giving someone exclusive royalty free acess to your intelectual property is just a bit too much to swallow...i mean even Microsoft doesn't go that far...
I put IE Beta 2 on here yesterday, and I must say. Microsoft has got a clear Winner!
This is the best IE release since 4.0! absolutly superb
My W3C valid web site renders "perfectly" using Ie8 standards mode view, no longer do i have to work around IE..the same standards pages reder correctly.
IE8 alos loads pages very fast.
Ie8 also has a much improved garbage collector and feels even more snappy than Firefox 3 or Safair...it uses much less memory over time. i have been on youtube, and other java/flash heavy sites since "yesterday" probably aboput 500 page views and ie8 beta 2 is only using about 55-65 MB of ram...thats going to be very tough for folks to beat.
Once this thing goes final...i think it is going to be a major winner..not to mention the new private browsing features, web slices, and activies and new and improved context menus just exteand IE's functionality.
I of course made an image of my drive before installing ie8 and when it goes final i will revert to the back up and install fresh...but i must say...Google chrome which i tried has a "very long way" to go to catch up with Ie8
I'd say IE8 and firefox 3 are on equal ground as the top 2 browsers, with Opera following a close 3rd...i just don't see Google comparing
Besides, why did google renew their agreement with Mozilla and then do this? is Chome using Gecko? or Webkit? what engine is it using? i assume its not using Trident(IE's engine) so what exactly is it using? i was just curious if anyoine knew | |
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AnonProxy
Proxy of Anon
Premium
join:2001-05-12
ß
| What a dog I love how they say it is fast, yeah if you don't want to see anything.
Ad blocking doesn't exist, in fact on certain Google Web partners it REPLACES ads with Google ads. WTF!
Flash Handling sucks.
Spyware/Adware built in, with no uninstall after you remove the program.
Tabbed browsing is now multiple processes using pig.
Java load, huge.
Chrome, no thanks....I'll stick with a non-adaware based browser. | |
| 
HardwareGeek
join:2003-11-15
Brooklyn, NY | Built in Key logger Google told Cnet News.com that they plan to store data you type into the auto complete.
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Email/MSN: Michael at hardwaregeeks.comAIM: MikeR35292 | |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
| Re: Built in Key logger said by HardwareGeek :Google told Cnet News.com that they plan to store data you type into the auto complete. They already backed down on that:
»news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10031···1_3-0-20
Google said on Wednesday that it plans to alter contract terms that gave the search provider broad rights to use anything entered into its new Chrome browser.
"In order to keep things simple for our users, we try to use the same set of legal terms (our Universal Terms of Service) for many of our products," Google said in a statement provided to CNET News. "Sometimes, as in the case of Google Chrome, this means that the legal terms for a specific product may include terms that don't apply well to the use of that product. We are working quickly to remove language from Section 11 of the current Google Chrome terms of service."
As first noted by CNET News on Tuesday, Chrome's End User License agreement appeared to give Google a perpetual right to use anything one entered into the browser. Section 11 stated that although users retain copyright to their works, "by submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-f |
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So far so good
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