Linden's Pensieve

Today here on Tuesdays with Linden’s Favorite Links, I’m going to start sharing my thoughts on Google Chrome. For those of you who just don’t care about Google, I am including a recipe and a Dr. Seuss-esque running poem. Just click here to skip past all of today’s Google stuff).

Last week, I* announced Google’s release of their attempt at creating a new browser from the ground up based on how people use the Internet in 2008. (All of the other browsers are only updated as changes in use happen. They are essentially built on the same code they were when the product was first release.) I like Google, I like the way Google’s philosophies play out in their revolutionary (and free!) products, like Gmail and now Chrome: simple, intuitive, powerful. Today’s links are going to be interspersed as I offer my evaluation of Google Chrome today and tomorrow.

Let’s start with why I like Chrome. For me, it’s a lot of little things. The big things have not really delivered, but I’ll cover that tomorrow.

Logical, usable right-click menu. Hands down, the feature that made me weak in the knees was on the right click menu.

Go ahead, highlight a word you don’t know. Here are a few I’ve had to look up recently, thanks to DYT and others: meretricious umbrage and sartorial. Once you’ve highlighted the word, hover your mouse over it and right-click. Choose “Search Google for ‘[highlighted word here]‘” and Voila! A new tab opens with the dictionary definition a click away.

I loved this feature of my Diigo toolbar and now it’s native to a web browser. Keep it coming! I suspect that if you change your default search engine (Wrench Menu > Options > Basics > Default Search), the change will be reflected in your right-click menu, but I’m a Googler, so I’ll let someone tell us that in the comments.

Search a site once and the Omnibox learns. Sounds a bit ominous, but it saves page loads, which saves time. I have been searching YouTube a lot lately in order to keep up with the conventions**. In Firefox, I would have to load the YouTube homepage, then use the search box. In Chrome, I simply type “Y [TAB] biden speech dnc” and I am taken directly to the search results, NOT via the YouTube homepage. Love it.

Hint: You have to use the search box on a site once before Omnibox learns the site has one. Then you can use the tab-kay shortcut to leap frog the site’s homepage and go directly to search results.

When closing tabs, the (x) stays put. It’s small, I admit, but time-saving. When I’m closing alllll the tabs I have open at the end of the day, Chrome keeps that (x) on each tab right under your mouse until you move the mouse. Since I primarily use a laptop with a touch pad, which I consider much less user-friendly than a normal mouse, this makes my life a little easier.

The home page auto creates itself. I’ve used Opera’s speed dial. I’ve used the rip-off Firefox add-on. But Google one-upped Opera and Josep del Rio: Speed Dial that auto-populates. I love it. If you can’t tell already, I love time-saving anything.

Bonus: Google also improved the “speed dial” page by including four search boxes (mine are history, Wikipedia, Diigo, and YouTube–are yours different?), recent bookmarks, and recently closed tabs.

Check Out These Related Posts

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• 16. January 2010 -- Book Challenge Update: 1 Down, 23 to Go (0)
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