Google Releases Chrome for Mac Beta


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It's unfortunate that they didn't get the bookmark manager, bookmark synching, and extension support in time for the Mac beta. However, at least extension support will be re-enabled in the next dev build for Mac. It also looks like synching for Mac is getting ready to roll out soon on the dev channel.

The bookmark manager seem to be about to be written not as a Cocoa dialog, but a tab that's opened, that is, like a web page. This model will also likely follow on Windows and Linux too. It's being made to follow their "everything in a browser" concept and for consistency with e.g. their history and download tab.

Sync for Mac status:

http://crbug.com/23073

Bpokmark Manager for Mac status:

http://crbug.com/13149

... and the deal about moving it to a tab:

http://crbug.com/4890

(please don't complain in the bugs; this is for developers to get constructive feedback)

My guess is that the devs won't even bother with a bookmark manager for Mac this late, but just work on the Win/Lin/Mac unified design with a tab and roll out that feature pretty much at the same time in the future.

Edited by Jugalator
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However, at least extension support will be re-enabled in the next dev build for Mac.

DO you know where I can keep track of the dev builds? Because extensions are the only thing stopping me from using it (I don't care much about a bookmark manager)

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I would totally be using this full-time because of its speed, but the lack of extensions and bookmark manager has me going back to safari for now.

According to benchmarks Chrome beta for Mac is hardly any faster, if at all, compared to the latest Safari version.

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The beta doesn't even have basic font options which makes this a definite no for me.

If I can't set my minimum font size to be at least 12 pt, and have to squint on a 20" screen, how do those 24", 27" and 30" screen people feel?

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The beta doesn't even have basic font options which makes this a definite no for me.

If I can't set my minimum font size to be at least 12 pt, and have to squint on a 20" screen, how do those 24", 27" and 30" screen people feel?

I don't browse full screen on my 24", so I have the window sized to my personal preference and have no issues.

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No it really isn't. Use it awhile and give it a chance. I'm not quite sure why it feels "right". But it does. Maybe its the speed, maybe its the way it looks, or a combination of things. But the thing feels and looks right. After a few hours, I've made it my default browser.

Although, a bookmark manager would be nice.

thats exactly how i feel about it.

its my default browser for quite some time now and i just love it. i even love the 2px-difference at the close/resize buttons.

and for some reason i also like that the downloads for example are not a cocoa-dialog but completely in-browser.

i never liked frefox for mac, didnt feel quite right but chrome does an excellent job. im really looking forward to extensions and a bookmarks manager.

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I have a lot of issues with Chrome. I tried it but the entire interface feels out of date and a bit too plain. Things like the Downloads manager, History etc. look pretty ugly. The resize window grabber goes through the down arrow of the scroll bar and there is no way to change the (non standard) toolbar. Also why are the close buttons on the tabs on the right side? Didn't Google get the memo? On Macs they're supposed to be located on the left...

Feels really unpolished to me. Next to that it would be nice if third-party browsers would actually use a fully native interface instead of all of this non-standard crap.

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I really like it for simple browsing, but until it gets updated with some more features, I won't be using it full time. It's very fast and consistent though, so it shows a lot of promise.

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I feel sorry for the people that can't look past an interface to see a truly useful and innovative application underneath. Having a high standard for your UI is great (I hold it in high regard as well, and that's what makes Mac OS X so great) but to base so much on it, and for that to be a persons main focal point of pretty much every argument, is kind of sad. I can't imagine all the really great apps people miss when they think it's UI doesn't meet their "standard."

That said, Chrome seems very nice so far. Speed-wise, it's right there with Safari. And when its full list of features are added I'm sure it'll be one of the best browsers on the Mac.

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I feel sorry for the people that can't look past an interface to see a truly useful and innovative application underneath. Having a high standard for your UI is great (I hold it in high regard as well, and that's what makes Mac OS X so great) but to base so much on it, and for that to be a persons main focal point of pretty much every argument, is kind of sad. I can't imagine all the really great apps people miss when they think it's UI doesn't meet their "standard."

That said, Chrome seems very nice so far. Speed-wise, it's right there with Safari. And when its full list of features are added I'm sure it'll be one of the best browsers on the Mac.

I think the real problem with Chrome is that it just has inconsistencies at points that keep it from feeling like a Mac application. For instance, I have smooth scrolling turned on, yet Chrome doesn't do smooth scrolling.

It's just the little nagging issues like that make me feel the same way I do when I use Firefox on OS X. They always keep me coming back to Safari, which is plenty fast.

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I feel sorry for the people that can't look past an interface to see a truly useful and innovative application underneath. Having a high standard for your UI is great (I hold it in high regard as well, and that's what makes Mac OS X so great) but to base so much on it, and for that to be a persons main focal point of pretty much every argument, is kind of sad. I can't imagine all the really great apps people miss when they think it's UI doesn't meet their "standard.

That said, Chrome seems very nice so far. Speed-wise, it's right there with Safari. And when its full list of features are added I'm sure it'll be one of the best browsers on the Mac.

Feature and speed-wise Chrome doesn't offer much, if anything, over Safari either... Heck, it doesn't even spot a bookmarks manager! So the lack of compelling features on top of a inconsistent interface doesn't give me any reason whatsoever to make the switch.

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I don't browse full screen on my 24", so I have the window sized to my personal preference and have no issues.

This has nothing to do with what I said.

Doesn't matter what size your window is, the fonts will remain the same size, i.e. small.

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