A Case For Chrome – Why It’s The Browser You Should Be Using

In this review I will be taking a look at Google Chrome, my #1 recommended internet browser. Chrome has been around since 2008 and has continued to become more and more popular. In fact, it is now the most popular internet browser in the world, and for good reason.

Let’s take a deeper look into everything that Google Chrome has to offer. I will follow my typical product review format and discuss the good that Chrome offers as well as the bad (if any), who should be using Chrome, customer support, and lots of other relevant information.

Let’s get started.

The Good

Ok, if you can’t tell yet, Chrome is an excellent browser and there are many good things about it. This section is quite long so instead of going into a deep, technical explanation of each of the following sections, I will give a brief explanation in lay-man’s terms. Basically, I just want to show you all of the reasons Chrome with dramatically increase your internet browsing experience.

If you want to read more in-depth I would consider checking out one of these reviews:

• InfoWorld – Review: Google Chrome Wants To Be Your OS
• PCWorld – Google's Chrome: 7 Reasons For It And 7 Reasons Against It
• TopTenReviews – Google Chrome 36

Speed

Google Chrome is fast…really fast. In fact, most sources consistently rank Chrome as one of the fastest browsers available. Chrome does a lot of things behind the scenes to really speed up the load times for most websites.

The speed of your browser is important because our internet lines are getting faster and faster. As the lines are able to transmit more and more data, website are getting more and more complicated and detailed. If your browser isn’t able to keep up and load websites quickly, then you are going to be doing a lot of sitting and waiting…nobody wants that!

Works On Mobile

Not only to I use Google Chrome on my laptop, but I also use in on my mobile phone. Chrome is optimized to work on any Android and Apple mobile phones. That’s right, you can even install Chrome onto your iPhone!

In my opinion, the Chrome browser on my Samsung Galaxy works much better and is easier to use than the default internet browser provided by Samsung.

Synchronization Across Devices And Operating Systems

A secondary reason that I prefer using Chrome on my phone is that, as long as I am logged into my Google account, all of my information, settings, apps, and other data is shared across all of my devices and operating systems. This means I can sign onto any computer (Windows, Apple, or Linux) or any mobile device and have full access to my personal settings, apps, favorites, history, etc.

This also means that if you only have one computer and multiple users, for instance a household PC used by the entire family, each user can have their own customized web browser. All you need to do is sign into your Google account to access it…just make sure you sign out when you’re finished!

App Integration

There are thousands of applications available through the Chrome Webstore. You can install these apps into your browser to improve its functionality and performance, increase your own productivity, listen to music, read the news, and even play games! There are many others as well, but I don’t want to have too long of a list and risk putting you to sleep.

Just a sampling of some of the most popular Chrome Apps available in the webstore.

Most of the apps are free to use and install. However, some of them will require you to purchase a usage license from the app's developer in order to use it. All of these apps can be installed with the click of a button…literally, you usually just have to click one button and they’re ready to go!

Security

Google Chrome is super secure, even without any third party programs. It has its own built in malware and phishing protection. Its security features are constantly monitoring every site you visit. In fact, if you attempt to visit a site it deems untrustworthy, it will let you know and tell you why it thinks the site might be a security risk before asking you if you really want to continue to the site.

The second technique that Chrome uses to ensure your security is something called sandboxing. This is a confusing thing to explain, but it basically makes Chrome really good at preventing malware from installing itself on your computer, stealing your personal information, and/or following and recording your online activities.

This video explains sandboxing much better than I would be able to. 

Thirdly, Chrome auto-updates itself, ensuring that all of its security measures are constantly kept up to date to ensure you are protected against the latest threats.

Built-In Flash & PDF Viewer

If you are using any browser other than Chrome, you are well aware of the pain of having to install Java, or Flash, or a PDF viewer before you can do many things on the internet. Luckily, Chrome has you covered as these are all automatically integrated into the browser itself. This means there is no manual installation needed.

This is really nice because it ensures that most every website just works. I can almost guarantee that you will never have to install anything to use a website. If you do, you need to make sure it’s not installing something sketchy!

One exception: In order to watch Netflix on Chrome you will need to install something called Microsoft Silverlight.

Automatic Upgrades

I mentioned this briefly in the “security” section above, but Chrome automatically updates all of its components by itself, including Java and Flash. You should never have to manually update a single aspect of the browser.

This makes your life really simple for two reasons: 1) You won’t be annoyed by those pesky pop-ups asking you to update something; and 2) You can rest assured knowing that everything should always work seamlessly.

Integrated Searching

Chrome has really made searching for things a breeze with the “Omnibox” feature. Basically, this means that the address bar (the place where you type a website’s address) also serves as a search bar.

For example, if you type “facebook” into the omnibox and push enter you will be taken to facebook.com. If you type “facebook news” and press enter you will be taken to the search results for that term.

Just by typing “fac” into the omnibox Chrome is able to predict where I might be wanting to go.

Google also has a lot of predictive technologies in place that figure out what you’re going to type before you even type it. In the example above, I only have to type “fac” and Chrome knows what I am looking for!

Tab Control

Most browsers these days utilize tabs, but Chrome has really upped its tab game to a whole other level. You can open new tabs in existing or new windows, in incognito mode (see below), rearrange them, close them, and much more.

Also, unlike other browsers, Chrome’s tabs operate independently from one another. This means that if one tab crashes, it won’t take the others down with it. This is a really nice feature, especially if you’re like me and have way too many tabs open at any given moment.

Incognito Mode

Incognito mode is a useful feature if you don’t want your browsing to be tracked and recorded. When you’re in incognito mode all of your browsing history, cookies, passwords, and other information is deleted immediately upon closing the browser.

Custom Home Pages

As you use Chrome it learns about your web browsing habits. As a result, it can provide a customized experience unique only to you. One way that this manifests itself is by the creation of a custom home page based on your most visited websites.

This is what my homepage looks like…you can tell what I spend my time doing!

When you first open up Chrome you will immediately see your 8 most commonly visited websites. All you have to do is click on the picture to be taken to that site immediately.

Autofill

Continuing with the idea that Chrome learns about you is the fact that over time, as you fill out forms and addresses, you can begin to use its autofill feature. This will dramatically decrease the amount of time you need to spend entering in your email addresses, mailing addresses, business addresses, phone numbers, etc.

If you are worried about financial security, you don’t need to be because Chrome will never record/remember your credit card numbers

The way this works is when Chrome sees these fields it automatically temporarily fills in the information for you. If that information is correct and you want to use it you just need to push enter and it's done!

Sleek Design

The aesthetic appearance of Chrome is just as sleek and streamlined as its functionality. There is no excess “fluff” anywhere within the browser. This makes it very easy to navigate and ensures a small learning curve.

Everything you need is located within the top strip along the top of the browser. This includes your open tabs, favorites, and installed apps. All of your additional settings can be accessed from the rightmost icon.

The Bad

While most of what I have to say about Chrome is really good, there are a couple things that I think could be improved upon.

Eats Up Memory

The first thing is that Chrome eats up A LOT of memory (RAM). I don’t even understand why it takes up so much, but it does. I guess everything that makes Chrome an excellent browser also makes it resource heavy

This is how many processes Chrome has running on my computer right now. I only have 4 tabs open so I don't know what all of these are for!

If you have a computer that is very low on memory, less than 1GB then your computer may become a bit slow at times, especially if you are trying to multitask.

Collects A Lot Of Information

The second thing that I really dislike about Chrome is the amount of data it collects from you. It is constantly “remembering” everything you do online. It does this for two reasons. The first is that it allows it to customize itself to better suit your browsing patterns. This reason isn’t so bad.

The second reason is why Google has become so rich. They are really good at getting advertisements to the exact target markets their advertisers are looking for. This is because they know exactly where you live, what you’re interested in, what your family is like, how old you are, etc. It really is a bit creepy when you think about it!

Who Is It For

In my opinion, Google Chrome is the best browser available. Therefore, I think anybody and everybody should at least give it a shot. The great thing is that, because it is super simplified and easy to learn, even those of us that aren’t particularly technologically inclined (aka my grandma) can figure it out with a little bit of practice.

Support

While Chrome doesn’t necessarily have instant human customer support it does have an extremely in-depth online help center. Here you can learn how to get started using Chrome, set up your accounts, customize your browser, change your settings, etc.

If you can’t find an answer to your problem here you are able to submit an official support ticket. There is no guaranteed response time, but considering the billions of people using Chrome they usually respond relatively quickly.

Price

Chrome is completely free. In fact, if you ever see something requiring a payment to use Chrome you should leave immediately because you’re being scammed. Google has always offered a majority of its products free of charge and Chrome is no different.

There are some apps and extensions you may have to pay for or subscribe to, but these are from third party sites and not from Chrome itself.

Final Opinion

Well, if you’ve made it this far I’m sure you’ve caught on that I love Chrome and wouldn't recommend any other browsers. I think Chrome has all of the functionality that any normal person could ever want. It is fast, safe, secure, smart, and easy to use.

If you’re not currently using Chrome, I would highly suggest giving it a shot. I’m pretty certain that after a couple of weeks you won’t want to switch back.

You may also be interested in:

• 11 Essential Google Resources You Need To Be Using
• How To Install Google Chrome
• How To Use Google Chrome – An Overview

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Google Chrome, please leave them for me in the comment section below and I’ll be sure to get back to you ASAP. Also, if you would like to receive a weekly update with my latest reviews, tutorials, etc. please consider signing up for my newsletter here: