Google Chrome

I installed Google Chrome just a few minutes ago, on the old PC (since there is no OS X version available, get a move on Google!). So far I like it, but it's really not that different from Firefox. The Tabs are in a different place, the styling is designed to fit in with Vista, so it looks different to your standard window in XP.

I quite like the tabs at the top of the page, but I'm notorious for liking something just because it's different, so I'd have to wait a bit longer, and use it a while before I make any serious judgment on it.

I don't like the style of the buttons to access the menu (e.g. to access the preferences). It's similar in style to IE7, and I hate it. I much prefer having the menu bar, across the top, with lots of different sections. Maybe it's just me, but I find myself using menu items quite frequently, and IE7 (and Chrome seems the same) is less intuitive to find what I want.

I like the view it shows me for all the cookies on my computer. Not a useful feature in real terms, but it is nice.

I do like when you drag a tab off the bar it becomes its own window, that's a nice feature, and something I would like Firefox to have. You can drag multiple tabs to different windows, and if you drag the last tab back to a different window, the window that it was in automatically closes.

Google gears is built right into the browser, one of the few features that is. It is clear that Google are going to position this browser as the portal to their services. I would not be surprised if Google Gears starts appearing on many more of their products. It's already available for Google Docs and Google Reader is Google Gears for Gmail and Calendar around the corner? That would give them a full office suite available to users, both on and offline. That's quite an offering.

On the whole, I like Chrome, but it doesn't do enough to tempt me away from Firefox, not even close in fact. Most of what I like about is cosmetic, and most of what I dislike about it is functional. I need function, I just like form.