I am trying out Google Chrome this week.  I am currently writing this post within this new browser.

So far, I am liking the fact that it won’t be quite the resource hog as other browsers, with the added bonus that if you close the tabs… the memory those tabs used will be freed up.

How does it work?  Well, when you first load it up, it opens the “browser” under one allotment of memory, and one “tab” under a separate allotment of memory.  Each additional tab that is opened gets its OWN allotment of memory – unlike with FF or IE, where all tabs share the same memory allotment.

Then, when you close individual tabs, the allotment it was using is reallocated back to your computer.  Which FF and IE don’t do.  Test it out and you will see.  Open a FF or IE window, and then open your task manager.  Start opening several tabs and go to different websites.  Watch the memory usage expand – it will all be under one resource.  Close those tabs, and most likely, the memory usage will STAY the same as it was, despite that you closed the other tabs!

Do the same with Chrome, and you’ll see each tab will have its own memory usage.  Close those tabs, and *poof* the memory for that closed tab has been given back for the computer to use, instead of being hoarded by the browser.

I have both a Win Vista machine and a Mac OS machine at home.  Currently Chrome is only available for Windows machines, but they are supposedly working on versions for the Mac & Linux to be released soon (like within a week or two?).  I would like to see how it runs on a Mac, since while I am at home, I am using my Mac for the most part, unless there is something I need to do that the Mac either isn’t set up to do, or just can’t do.  Like right now, since the program isn’t yet out for the Mac platform.

Anyway, so far I am liking the program. I’ll continue to test it out over the next few days and see how it compares against FF, which is my preferred browser.  I only use IE if I need two Gmail windows open for two different accounts at the same time, or something like that.  Otherwise I avoid it like the plague.

So give Google Chrome a try.  If you have a system with a small amount of memory and like to have several tabs open at once, your computer may thank you!  (Just remember, it is currently in BETA!)

Tags: Browser, FireFox, Google, Linux, Mac Os, Windows