Advantages of Google Chrome Over Other Browsers

The competition among the popular browsers which include Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Opera is intense. These days every browser maker releases newer, better and faster browser versions and updates even before the dust settles on its previous versions.

The one important fact to note here is that all this began with the introduction of Google Chrome. Once the other browser providers saw the potential and threat of Chrome, the race to keep their browsers relevant began. Google Chrome was released less than 5 years ago but now holds more than 40% of the global browser usage share. This makes it the most widely used browser putting it ahead of Internet Explorer and Firefox which have been around for for a very long time.

These are the features that make Google Chrome great.

Multilingual Web Surfing: Translate Any Website

Google Chrome is now the only browser that lets you make use of any website regardless of its language. It does this by allowing you to translate the website. This new "polyglot" feature makes use of the Google Translate tool. Your browser is automatically updated to use this feature and you do not have to download any extensions or add-ons. It does not require the website to have language versions.

Google Chrome automatically detects if the website is not rendered in your preferred language and displays an option bar that asks if you would like to translate it. With this new ability, an English speaker can visit and use Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and French websites and so many others.

Speed

A lot of speed tests have been carried out featuring Google Chrome versus other web browsers and each time, Chrome comes out the winner. It starts faster, loads pages faster and runs web applications faster. Google Chrome was designed specifically for speed.

Stability

The tabs in Google Chrome are designed to work independently of each other. This ensures that an error in one tab does not affect other tabs or the entire browser. Even plug-ins and JavaScript run separately. This is unlike other internet browsers where an error in a single tab can cause the entire browser to shut down.

User Interface and Interactivity

Google Chrome has a simple and uncluttered look which is very pleasing to view. Tabs can be peeled off the tab bar and promoted to windows. Tabs can also be removed from one window and placed in another window. They can be pinned to the task bar to prevent them moving around. You can resize the textbox on any webpage if it is too small or maybe too large. And so on and so on.

Control

Chrome provides a Task Manager - like the one in your computer's operating system - that allows you to see what is happening inside your browser. On the task manager, you can see the amount of memory and network used by each tab. Thus, you can tell which tab is hogging resources and making your connection or computer slow. You can then close the tab or even end its process right there in the task manager. If a page is loading too slowly, you can check to see if it is using the network. If there is no network activity for the tab, you can choose to refresh it. These are just some of the things you may do with the task manager.

Versatility

The address bar - called the Omnibox by Google -can be used both for entering web addresses and carrying out web searches. You may use any search engine that you prefer right from your address bar. This same address bar can be used to search any searchable website e.g. Wikipedia, by entering the site's address and pressing the Tab button when the prompt appears.

Security and Safety

Google Chrome makes use of a technique called Sandboxing where the browser is prevented from being able to modify or read information from your computer. Therefore, if a hacker is able to exploit your browser it would be useless to him/her. Malware is prevented from installing itself on your computer through your browser because Chrome cannot write files to your computer. Google Chrome is also regularly updated with a list of suspected malware and phishing sites called the Safe Browsing List. Whenever you are about to visit one of these websites, a warning appears on your screen telling you that the site may damage your computer.

Currently, none of the other popular browsers i.e. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Opera can match these all capabilities. Some of them have introduced some features which used to be unique to Chrome or have plans to do so. Still, Google Chrome stays ahead of them by adding more impressive features.