Communication Bywaves

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Google's Chrome Browser Ver.10 Reviewed

"one of the fastest
browsers available"Google Chrome continues to mature from a lightweight and fast browsing alternative into an innovative browser that's also on the precipice of a potential browsing revolution with the pending Chrome OS. The browser that people can use today, Chrome 10, offers highly competitive features including synchronisation, autofill and standards compliance, and maintains Google's reputation for building one of the fastest browsers available.

Chrome 10 represents a major milestone for the browser, but those expecting to see dramatic changes in major-point updates will be disappointed. For several months now, Google has been pushing features over what it calls milestone numbers, which means that as soon as new features are usable in the stable version of Chrome, Google will likely push them to all users.

The big change in Chrome 10 is a dramatically faster JavaScript engine. Other changes include moving settings from a separate dialog box into a single tab and limited hardware acceleration for video playback. These are discussed below in the Features and Performance sections.

Please note that there are at least four versions of Chrome available at the moment, and this review only addresses the "stable" branch, intended for general use. Chrome beta (Windows | Mac), Chrome dev (Windows | Mac) and Chrome Canary (Windows only) are respectively progressively less stable versions of the browser, and aimed at developers.

Interface

Google's Chrome interface has changed remarkably little since its surprise debut in September 2008. Tabs are still on top, the location bar — which Google likes to call the "Omnibar" — dominates the minimalist design and the browser has few visible control buttons besides Back, Forward and a combined Stop/Reload button. Although some may not like having the tabs on top, we find it to be aesthetically preferable because it leaves more room below for the website we're looking at.

One change has been to remove the secondary Page options button and combine it with the preferences wrench icon to create space for extension icons to the right of the location bar. As it currently looks, it could be better organised. Some controls, such as page zoom, are readily available. Others, such as the extension manager, are hidden away under a Tools sub-menu.
Source: CNet.com.au

Private Browsing

Privacy mode or private browsing is a feature of modern browsers that allows web surfing without leaving a tell-tail trail of visited sites. It also allows you to open "clean" windows without any per-loaded cookies or default settings. Among other uses, opening multiple private browsing windows enables you to login to multiple accounts such as email and bank accounts from the same browser. This feature can be started in different ways and a small icon is displayed in the address box when operating.

This information applies to Windows Internet Explorer 8. InPrivate Browsing enables you to surf the web without leaving a trail in Internet Explorer. This helps prevent anyone else who might be using your computer from seeing where you visited and what you looked at on the web. You can start InPrivate Browsing from the new tab page, the Safety button or shortcut keys: Ctrl+Shift+P.

Chrome: Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+N or click the Tools menu and select New incognito window. Now you've gone incognito. Pages that you view in this window won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files that you download or bookmarks that you create will be preserved, however.

Firefox 3.5 and later provide "Private Browsing," - Shortcut keys: Ctrl+Shift+P - which allows you to browse the Internet without Firefox saving any data about which sites and pages you have visited.
History is used by the browser to enhance your experience on the Internet. When the browser remembers a website you previously visited or the username and password for your favorite web site, this information is considered your history.

However, there may be times when you do not want other users of your computer to see or access such information. For example, if a friend or family member shares your computer, you might prefer for them not to be able to see what websites you've visited or what files you've downloaded.

More information on private browsing... or a comprehensive report from Stanford University titled "An Analysis of Private Browsing Modes in Modern Browsers"