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Google Chrome is 4 years old.

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T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
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It was four years ago that Chrome 1.0 released to the world. Back then, it was Windows-only, didn't have extensions, was an order of magnitude slower than the current version, and didn't even have a bookmark manager.

Pretty crazy how far it's come. Chrome completely changed the game when it debuted on September 2, 2008. Suddenly, "JavaScript benchmarks" and "standards support" were on the lips of everyone in the browser scene.

Chrome was innovative. From it's minimalistic UI (since copied or reinterpreted by every single other competing browser), to its decision to run every tab and plugin as a separate process (to prevent full-scale browser crashes and security exploits; also copied by most other browsers), to it's completely seamless auto-update mechanism (in the process of being copied right now), Chrome set the trends on the web for the past four years.

The update mechanism came in hand in hand with Chrome's blisteringly fast upgrade pace: in the first two years of its life, Google released six versions of Chrome. In the latter two years, it's stepped things up even more -- a whopping 15 versions have been released since September 2010, when I first made what was then the "Chrome 6 OT."

It's worth noting that Chrome's update schedule too has been copied, most noticeably by Mozilla, which took seven years to release four versions of Firefox, but since 2011 has released 11 more.

Chrome isn't Windows-only anymore either. In December 2009, in addition to extensions support, Chrome launched for Mac and Linux. It even expanded to smartphones, with both Android and iOS versions hitting in the first half of this year.

There are literally dozens of features, fixes, and improvements I could list after paying close attention to Chrome since its release four years ago, but I think all I need to say is the web is far better off for having Chrome. For users, it's made web browsing enjoyable again.

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Chrome blog post: "Celebrating 4 years: from a better web, to your web"
 
Even though I stopped using chrome as my main browser a year or so ago, I can't understate how important it was for the browser market. Every browser is now better because of it.

Also, this makes me feel old. :| time flies.
 
Got it day one and was blown away at how good it ran, how simple and clean it was.
Fantastic browser and the others don't even come close.
 
I would love to see what % of distribution has come from having Adobe prompt to install Google Chrome and Google Toolbar every time it patches (which is like every few weeks lately), itself being a business deal so I am sure Adobe is making bank off of the contract to have that checkbox sitting there turned on by default even the 20th time you update Flash. I'm not calling it shady, it is basically just smart if anything but if Adobe was just as smart they would start charging an arm and a leg to do the little trick.
 
I remember when it first came out it handled like shit on my machine at the time, far worse then the then-current version of Firefox. They really cleaned it up
 
...and it's still lacking some extremely basic browser functionality, such as the ability to view image properties (I use an extension for that, but I shouldn't have to). I also really miss the mouse gestures from Opera. Yes, there are Chrome extensions for that too, but none of them are even in the same league as the Opera implementation. Another thing I miss from Opera is tab stacking, which is an amazingly useful feature.

But I still use Chrome. I love the great HTML5/CSS3 support, the syncing with Chrome on my phone, etc. I just wish I could have the advantages of Chrome and Opera's awesome built-in features combined in one amazing super browser.
 
Relevant link: Chrome Time Machine.

Enco said:
Time flies eh.

Best browser.
Click to expand...

It's crazy. I remember exactly where I was when making the Chrome OT two years ago for version 6. "A New Coat of Paint" being the subtitle, since the UI got a refresh. The reload buttons and such no longer had that unsightly, kiddy border, and browser frame was changed from light blue to gray. That was the moment Chrome had finally "grown up" in my eyes. Having added extensions the previous December (which is what finally got my to switch from Opera) and stable versions for Mac and Linux the past May, the UI was the last piece of the puzzle.

And Chrome's been dominating ever since. According to some reports it commands as much as 33% of the overall browsing userbase, and has eclipsed Internet Explorer in active usage.
 
I use chrome when firefox acts stupid. Until chrome gets firebug full It'll be my second browser of choice.

Though I do LOVE when I install it on another machine and magically all my extensions appear, <3 google.
 
Remember when this is what Chrome looked like?

Pinning-Beta--Recent-Activities.jpg


Pretty hideous looking back on it.
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In fact I remember one of the reasons I stuck with Opera for over a year after Chrome came out was I really disliked its "toy UI."
 
Don't like chrome, but I do like that it's given FF a kick up the backside and forced them to finally fix longstanding issues like memory usage.
 
diamount said:
Is it being faster noticeable?
Click to expand...
to me yes.

In a nutshell, the thing that always bugged me about firefox, is that when I click the icon to open it, there is this delay. When I click the chrome icon it just fucking opens.

That's the differences to me in a nutshell. Chrome just "feels" snappy and light and slick. It's very well polished. There's also a lot of options and all that for the more technical users.
 
Great browser. it's remained remarkably clean and uncluttered after 4 years of development. not every design project can boast that.
 
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If they keep messing up volume on videos and other stuff on web pages I'll have to ditch it. Been using Chrome for about 3 years I guess.
 
I use it on my Mac mainly because Flash can run solely within Chrome without the need to actually install Flash on my Mac.
 
I remember how much I hated Chrome when it first released... To think that now it's the only browser I'll use is pretty crazy.
 
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