Technical Tidbits

After my sad disappointment about IE 8, I tempered my excitement this morning when I heard that Google was releasing Chrome - their new browser offering.  I’m assuming it’s their answer to the Microsoft Big Brother Browser - IE 8.

I guess I’m jaded. We all know Google makes a ton of money on it’s search engine advertisers. So, I just kind of assumed that there would be the same kind of issues with Chrome as their was IE 8.  More spying, more lining their pockets, yada, yada.

Well, I’m a bit more hopeful, although still a bit skeptical because I have not used it fully yet. But so far, it’s looking good! Okay, no. It’s looking GREAT!

Before I downloaded it, I took a look at their comic book describing how it was made. I don’t want to ruin that experience for you so I will not comment on it in this post. I’ll probably give you a day to read the full thing first.

So, if you haven’t heard about this or read their comic book, do so before you download the program. You will miss a significant amount of information if you pass that book up! (But I will be discussing much of it in Part 2.)

It took me a while to find the actual download, but I did. There it was on the page in all it’s Google glory!

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Doesn’t it just look like a shining beacon of hope?

So, I click to download and I’m taken to this page:

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Oh, I get it! Here’s the gotcha! They want me to report my crashes so they can spy on me! I click the privacy link and expected to see the litany of legal jargon I received from Microsoft and here’s what I see:

What a refreshing sight after the nightmare from Microsoft! I guess I should also tell you that unlike Microsoft’s proprietary IE 8, Google’s Comic book let’s you in on the secret that this is all Open Source! I felt I should tell you that before we go further because Open Source licenses are much different then Microsoft’s licenses and legal mumbo-jumbo.

Okay, now for the install.

Do you remember the setup process I had to go through to install IE 8?

Check out the setup screens from Google Chrome below:

Now I have to pause here for a second. Isn’t this screen a refreshing difference from Microsoft’s esoteric and obscure error messages? How cute is this??

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Oh! And guess what they have too? Incognito mode! And guess what? They don’t need to send back information on your browsing habits to do it!  Imagine that!

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If you just can’t wait, you can install Google Chrome here:
http://tools.google.com/chrome/

But remember, I haven’t investigated it thoroughly yet. So keep a healthy dose of skepticism - although I know it’s hard for me to do that right now! This is really a fun browser!

Hey Google! I need a Tor proxy plugin! (GRIN)

written by Admin \\ tags: big brother browser, chrome, chrome beta, google, google browser, google chrome, google comic book, google new browser, incognito, Microsoft, microsoft IE 8, privacy, private browsing, Security