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  • Google Chrome - What is it?
Technology Articles > Software > Network & Internet > Google Chrome - What is it?

If you're like 85% of Internet users, you probably use some variation of Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. What about that other 15%, though? What are they using? There are other browsers out there, and the most popular (and fastest growing) alternative to the Big Two browsers (IE and Firefox) is definitely Google Chrome, which grew from 3% to 8% market share in one year. Now, it’s up to 10% share. It’s certainly worth considering switching to Chrome, especially as other web browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, stagnate in development.

Worth the Switch?

Google Chrome is a browser that was developed by Google. Its main objective was to improve the "three S's" -- speed, security, and stability. By focusing on these three aspects of the web browsing experience, Google Chrome's overarching goal is to improve the Internet experience as a whole.

Chrome, like Safari, is a Webkit browser, In layman’s terms, this means that it uses Apple’s Webkit toolkit, allowing it to support technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3. Websites will look more modern in a browser such as Chrome (or Safari).

There are several features that are unique to Google Chrome. For example, when you open Google Chrome, it shows you thumbnails of your most recently visited sites. For example, if you often go to Gmail.com, Yahoo.com, and CNN.com, those three sites (among others) will be visible when you open Google Chrome or a new tab.

The security features of Google Chrome are also worth mentioning. Google maintains its own blacklists of websites, and when you attempt to visit a dangerous site, it warns you that the site is dangerous and could harm your computer.

Security

There's also a cool little security feature called "Incognito" mode in Google Chrome. When you open Incognito mode, your browser becomes totally private -- no passwords or cookies will be saved. This is incredibly useful for times when you want to use a public computer, but don't want your password to be saved.

Google Chrome also renders pages faster than Firefox and Internet Explorer, as evidenced by testing that placed Google Chrome as twice as fast as other browsers in performing some functions.

One of the most useful features of Chrome for many new computer users is that you never have to upgrade it. That is, it upgrades automatically so you don’t ever have to install an update. This is also a useful security feature, as bugs and security exploits will not remain open for long.

There are some downsides to going with Google Chrome, though. For one, Google Chrome is not as widely proliferated through the web yet. This means that some sites will not render correctly under Chrome. It is also in early development, so it is still prone to crashes at a higher frequency than other browsers.

Is Google Chrome right for you? Probably not as your only browser -- at least, just yet, however, for a fast browsing experience and cutting edge technology, it is worth trying.