Google Chrome for Mac: Stable Enough for Me. - August 31st, 2009

I’ve been periodically installing and stress-testing builds of Chrome and Chromium over the last few months, waiting for the day when I could comfortably say “it’s ready.” Today was that day. I couldn’t be happier, save for maybe a little bit smoother window-resizing, but that’s trivial since I keep it the same size after the initial launch and screen setup anyhow. Currently Chrome’s hovering at version 4.0.203.4 and has automatic update capability, meaning right now is a set it and forget it moment. Perfect import of my Safari bookmarks made me happy in my geek-jeans, (that’s not skinny jeans, mind you) and so far there doesn’t seem to be any reason to go back to the venerable Apple standard.

Before I get the inevitable “why are you using Safari anyway? Why not use Firefox??” An explanation:

I’ve been using Safari for about two months now because I had an episode with Firefox 3.5 that left a bad taste in my mouth. Google, which I very transparently champion as the company that will shape the Internet as we know it, should be a safe bet when guaging a browser’s compatibility. Firefox failed to render a simple option-box; it completely ignored the existence of a drop-down menu in my Google Adsense settings. I was severely confused as to why I was unable to change the setting, until I loaded it in Safari and realized what was happening. At that moment I shelved my Firefox icon, and I haven’t opened the app since. Safari 4, on the other hand, renders every page beautifully and efficiently. I haven’t had cause to regret the decision save for the application’s absolutely mind-numbing tab behavior, which (I won’t lie) makes me something akin to suicidal. Holding down a key every time I want to click a link isn’t exactly going to kill me, but it’s damned annoying.

Enter Google Chrome. This browser is built by people who deal with the Internet, primarily. It’s fast, responsive, beautiful, smooth, and more importantly – it’s entire existence is contingent upon the use of the most cutting edge technologies, with as little frills or baggage as possible. That’s the way a browser ought to be, and that’s the way Chrome is.

Chrome for Mac: Get it here.

So aside from the slower rendering involved in resizing the window, or in scrolling a page, I’ve not come across any problems yet. I can tell you that I’ve severely overloaded it with tabs, and I’ve put the omnibar through its paces without giving it a chance to breathe. It handled everything in stride. As of today, Google Chrome for Mac is stable enough for me, give it a shot yourself and see what you think.