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Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Google Chrome Web Browser to get a makeover

By | September 25, 2011, 8:52am PDT

Summary: Google’s Chrome Web browser’s interface is getting a modest, but significant, makeover to make it more usable.

Chrome 14 is great, but the forthcoming Chrome 15 looks like it will be even better. This release, which is now in beta, boasts three new tab pages. These will make it easier to get to your Chrome apps, most visited sites, and bookmarks.

The new Chrome 15 tab pages appear in three different sections on the bottom of all Web pages. You can flip between these different sections by clicking the section labels at the bottom of the page or by using the arrows at the side of the page. When you open a new tab, Chrome will default to opening the last tab page you had on.

It’s a simple change, but it’s one I’m already finding very useful. In particular, I appreciate having one click access to my bookmarks. The one change Chrome made to the traditional Web browser that I hadn’t liked was the way it placed bookmarks under the wrench. This made going to a bookmarked site, if it wasn’t one of my top sites, a three-step operation. Now, even without a bookmark bar, I just have to make one click and I’m able to browse my bookmarks. For me, this is a real change for the better.

Chrome 14: Pretty and Fast. (Gallery)

Not everyone likes this change. A lot of people want a floating bookmark bar, but I don’t see it myself. Google 15 still lets you have a fixed bookmark bar, so I don’t get what all the fuss is about. That said, I think Google needs to improve the bookmark tab’s looks. Still, I’ve no doubt that Google will clean this up. This looks exactly like the kind of cosmetic problem that you expect to see in a beta release.

The new tab pages also let you re-arrange apps on a page by dragging and dropping them. An even better feature, if you have a lot of Chrome apps, is that you can now create a new apps section by dragging an app to the bottom of the page until a new apps section appears. You can then name the section to something that works for you–Games for Chrome Games; Work for Google Docs and Google Mail; Entertainment for Google Music and YouTube and so on.

In addition, the JavaScript Fullscreen application programming interface (API) is now enabled by default. This means just what it says. You’ll be able to run some JavaScript applications as full-screen applications.

Finally, the Omnibox History, a history of everything entered into the Address/Search bar, can now be synced between Chrome browser instances with Google Sync This will let you sync your Chrome search history across multiple PCs and other devices.

The bottom-line is that the Chrome Web browser is continuing, ala Chrome OS, to become an easy-to-user interface for anything that you might want to do on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. I’m going to be watching it closely to see where it goes from here.

Related Stories:

Chrome 14: The best Web browser keeps getting better (Review)

Google Chrome Web browser kicks rump, takes names

Chromebooks Live!

Google adds off-line mode to Gmail, Calendar, Docs apps

Firefox 6: A Firefox too far? (Review)

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Topics

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka sjvn, has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting edge, PC operating system

Disclosure

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is a freelance writer. He does not own stocks or other investments in any technology company.

Biography

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka sjvn, has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting edge, PC operating system; 300bps was a fast Internet connection; WordStar was the state of the art word processor; and we liked it.

His work has been published in everything from highly technical publications (IEEE Computer, ACM NetWorker, Byte) to business publications (eWEEK, InformationWeek, ZDNet) to popular technology (Computer Shopper, PC Magazine, PC World) to the mainstream press (Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, BusinessWeek).

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RE: Google Chrome Web Browser to get a makeover
xph@... 23rd Oct
As soon as Chrome devs officially add a sidebar, I might consider returning back to Chrome. Until that, I stay with Opera (which has also a far better bookmark management options).
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I used Google 15.x Beta for a while and my computer got infected with all kinds of Malware. IE 9 is just as bad. With Firefox rarely does my computer ever get infected.

This is the truth. I have given both Google and IE 9 a chance to show what they can do and what they can do is let Malware get on your computer.
@Nesivos I think your problem exists between the chair and the keyboard
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@superlinkx

I have to agree. I've never gotten malware from using Chrome or IE9.

@Nesivos, I would take a look at your browsing habits. I have a feeling they may not be the best.
@superlinkx I also agree. IE9 has been proven to be extremely good at highlighting unsafe downloads and providing solid browser security.
@superlinkx I agree as well. I've used IE 7-9, Firefox, and Chrome each for a significant amount of time. Infections reported? Zero.
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@Nesivos Right, I think you're downloading wares and torrents that are infected and you're blaming the browser.
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@Peter Perry He is a Dumb Azz User and blames his incompetence on the browser.

It doesn't matter what browser you use, there is no way of preventing an infection when the person between the chair and the keyboard is a DAU.
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@Nesivos
Chrome is more secure than Firefox. There's no sandbox in Firefox which makes exploiting security holes much easier.
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@Nesivos Troll Ignore!
@Nesivos That's a user error. Don't blame the manufacturer for your ignorance.
@Nesivos This is a good ole ID10T related issue. I get about 30 of these a day from my end users.
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@Nesivos, that must be why a report came out a couple of years ago that said that Firefox had the most attacks of any browser.....
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Like the Roadrunner, always out front. Go Chrome!
- Glenn Davis Doctor G
so is this update suites also Google TV ?
Choice brought to you by Google.

Chrome continues to evolve.
Hooah!
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...still makes you want to use Windows XP? Even if only in a VM.
@iravgupta There is no compelling reason to spend money on something that will give you zero benefits over what you already have. If all you do is browse the web and check your email (on-line), then there is no real reason to waste money upgrading to something you don't need.
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...and so it begins
thx-1138_@... Updated - 25th Sep
I distinctly remember the original Chrome Dev' Team talking about a light-weight interface and engine. As predicted, they realized that had the caveat of offering only ordinary addon / extensibility functionality.

So what do Google do? Simple! They begin to evolve the browser into something that has more usability and functionality .. sound familiar (e.g. think IE and FF). So as the application development cycle goes, eventually we'll see how Chrome with *actual* useful functionality through addons & extensions performs versus the already "long evolved" browers - like IE and FF. I'm also betting those benchmarks and performance edges Chrome has had in the last couple of years will close as they add further functionality.

I'm going to stay with FF as my main browser .. because now the real browser competition begins.
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MAKEOVER?
rafaelluik 25th Sep
They change some little things on the crappy new tab page and you call it a completely makeover?
@rafaelluik

i prefer the old behaviour i have all in one page without switching
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Hmm... so now Chrome is officially completely deviating from Chromium? Finally all the "google is open source messiah" trolls can RIP. Google does NOT have ONE open source product, and has not contributed back to any open source projects. Interesting!
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Eh?! Care to elaborate?
DevJonny 26th Sep
@prasanna_vps

These features can be found in Chromium!
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@DevJonny With all due respect, I think you missed a key word "some", and there lies my point
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nevermind
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I saw a website from avant browser which is a test JS for engine's speed and i test my browser.Avant: 534.3 firefox: 549.7 chrome: 768.5.yeah The less time it uses, the faster it loads js.
Appearently, chorme or firefox (The most possible one is chrome I think) will be the NO.1 in the browsers market. Small browser will find it difficult to survive as time goes by. But this is not what I want. I like using various small browsers which are full of features and fast such as Avant browser and slim browser.Come on! small browser
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1. They give us the option to have a fixed status bar where when you hover over a bookmark, its URL can be clearly displayed immediately on the status bar without any delays (the OnMouseOver event for the menu item)

2. We are able to re-arrange bookmarks within the menu in the same manner as Firefox and this means when you drag and drop a bookmark, the menu remains open (IE6 and current Firefox). When you delete a bookmark, the menu does remain open in Chrome but not when you drag&drop within the menu.

Until those two features get implemented, Chrome is useless for me no matter what they do.
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Item #3.
Joe.Smetona Updated - 26th Sep
@Mr_Tech ... Item #3, fix your coffee with cream and sugar? happy

Firefox works great, Chrome works great. It's just down to preferences and there's no good reason not to use either.

I like Chrome, especially when it's set to bring up a web page as you type in the URL. That's just my preference. It' eliminates the search page step in a lot of cases, for repetitive sites.

As far as "@Nesivos" is concerned (getting malware). It does not happen with Ubuntu or Mint, guaranteed. It's a Windows issue. Windows allows the malware to get installed. It doesn't matter if it's Aunt Jennys cookie recipe, it is wrong for ANYTHING to get installed without the users' knowledge. The problem has nothing to do with the applications. They can never fully prevent the OS from wanting to install something on the sly.
@Joe.Smetona

Funny, I haven't had any malware on my Windows PC's for at least a decade now. The problem usually is the user willingly downloading and installing the infections themselves.

I don't like Chrome because it is a rip off of what Chromium originally was before Google came in and acted as they came up with the browser. They may have added some things for their benefit it is not Google's creation.

I love Linux and promote it but I do not promote Google or anything it does. Want a real nice browser? Based off Chromium and removes tracking crap and adds better security... Comodo Dragon. That is how a browser should be done.
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@Joe.Smetona Malware is caused due to user behaviour mostly unknowingly, sometimes trusting things that shouldnt be trusted. Nothing to do with platform or OS (c'mon we are all a long way away from Win 95 now!). So chill on the OS flames.

as far as @Nesivos, dont feed the troll man!
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@audiodiablo .. or
thx-1138_@... Updated - 26th Sep
.. Iron Browser (another Chromium fork), which i replaced Google Chrome with about three months ago:

http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

No fuss, all the navigability speed of Chrome - without the spyware, woot!

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I tried Chrome on my tablet/laptop PC, but it didn't support touch very well -- not even touch scrolling.
Therefore, it was uninstalled, and I went back to IE9 and Firefox.
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Very Interesting
doting.daddy 26th Sep
"Still, I???ve no doubt that Google will clean this up. This looks exactly like the kind of cosmetic problem that you expect to see in a beta release."

sjvn spent considerable "ink" blasting Windows 8 for its look. But, if it's his beloved Chrome, one needn't worry. They'll clean up these beta issues.

Do you think, sjvn, that Microsoft might be able to clean up a pre-beta some, too?
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the difference being
thx-1138_@... 26th Sep
@doting.daddy .. in this case, that Google Chrome is in perpetual beta. (i.e. the Chrome Team don't fancy their chances of ever really getting it right).
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I /really/ dislike the new look. Opening a new page from my bookmarks bar is now at least 2 extra clicks & a search, or I have to put up with the damned thing being there all the time.

Either way, it's a total fail.

And I don't want an apps tab, because I don't want apps in browser, because, y'know, it's a BROWSER, not an OS. So I have none. Can I get rid of the apps pane? Nope.

Thumbs down. Single most irritating change in Chrome since launch. REALLY dislike this one.
You should be using Canary. Because by the time you report stuff for Beta, it's already old news.
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Yawn....nothing new
Stan57 26th Sep
Yawn....nothing new.
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chrome its basic face it, its still an forced, and pretty much uncustomizable experience, chrome addons still are not better to firefox, and memory usage of chrome its still higher than firefox. sites load better and have less compatibility issue firefox 7 will be released soon and while like chrome its small changes, the real world performance just got better
Nesvios comments are probably hyperbole. However, after downloading Google Beta 15.21 (devl) with adblock and clicknclean, I experienced a system freeze that also froze Kaspersky. Three different scans by Kaspersky, Microsoft, and MalawareBytes were negative. But it was strange, probably clicknclean ?
Nesvos' comments are prob hyperbole. However, after downloading Chrome Beta 15.21 (dev) with adblock and clicknclean, I had a system freeze which also froze Kaspersky. Scans by Kaspersky, MB, and Microsoft were negative. Prob one of the addons ?
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Chrome 15
JDThompson 26th Sep
I've been using Google Chrome v15 beta for a while now, but am not particularly fond of the new look. I wish there were a way to suppress the thumbnail view of bookmarks and apps -- they take up too much screen real-estate on my netbook device.

The "Frequently Viewed Pages" section appears to be static -- it shows a number of pages I've viewed in the past, but it never changes, and some new sites I've been frequenting never make it onto my "Frequently Viewed Pages" no matter how many times I view them. What's up with that?

Firefox is still my default browser for a number of reasons, but I will keep using Chrome as well.
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here's an excellent
thx-1138_@... 26th Sep
@JDThompson .. alternative solution:

http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

('alternative' is the operative word: it's a Chromium fork [a la twin browser] - without the spyware baggage of Google's version. Try it out and let us know what you think.)
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I'm in Chrome version 16 right now, version 15 was the pits, i.e. it had a lot of problems with hang-ups, etc. Version 14 and present version 16 not exhibiting those bad symptoms of version 15. I ended up having to use F/F and IE-9 fo rmuch of my browsing while I had Chrome 15 installed. It was a fiasco. Oh, I tried every version 15 made available by Filehippo trying to find one that didn't perform badly, possibly only the first two versions fulfilled that dream. I'm hoping version 16 performs much better, at least as well as 14. Tis all I can say.
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The use...?
Naryan 27th Sep
How can you "not see the use" of a floating bookmarks bar? Or maybe you just didn't want to?
The "use" of it is so that you can open up a new tab and have a huge amount of your little bookmark icons in a row where they're needed in the order you left them, the way you remember them being there, the way you put them there, without having to stare at them all the time you're browsing ANYTHING.
Almost everybody now opens a new tab and selects their bookmark then closes the old tab, even if it's only a few seconds later. That's just the way people do things now, they don't want to close something they might need.
I think this was a major design mistake that seriously needs to be addressed.
Google chrom running faster than others
As soon as Chrome devs officially add a sidebar, I might consider returning back to Chrome. Until that, I stay with Opera (which has also a far better bookmark management options).

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