3 Reasons Why Chrome Is Dying
Despite all the buzz that the Google Chrome browser has made since its initial launch, its popularity has been on a downhill trend. Here are 3 reasons why I think this is so:
- Lack of features - Different users have different needs. Some of them are developers that need to debug their websites or some simply like to customize the look of their browser. Unlike Firefox and IE, there is a serious lack of available applets to extend or customize the browser.
- Bugs - From installation issues, to frequent crashing, to hanging all the way down to display problems. Chrome’s list of issues make it pale in comparison to a vet like Firefox.
- Been there, done that - Almost all Google Chrome’s features can be found in other browsers, in one way or another. There are articles about this for Firefox and IE.
Probably Chrome’s only asset at this moment is speed, and while puts to shame all other browsers in this area, apparently that is still not enough to pull people in. Still, there is no denying that Chrome has a lot of potential to become a great browser. It is still at its infancy, so I say give it more time. It took IE and Mozilla (Firefox) over 10 years to get to where they are currently at.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:52 am
I think you forgot what Beta means, and don’t give me the “oh but Gmail is beta too”. Everyone knows those naming rules are not treated the same on desktop and web software by anyone (not even Google, and yes, i think it’s stupid Gmail is still called Beta).
In fact, if the comic hadn’t leaked, they probably wouldn’t have launched it already. I think they just did it to keep people happy and stop all the speculation that would arise about it being vaporware.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:28 am
People can say what they will but I have been using Chrome since it launched and I love it. It hasn’t crashed once. I love it’s simplicity and speed and to be completely honest I don’t miss all my plugins I had with Firefox at all. Not that I would complain if some of my favorites we developed with the same simplicity that Chrome already has.
Just wanted to say I like it so far.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I think there will be enough of features when the browser grows older - it’s just too new to judge what it will be. The only problem is that Google will need to play catch-up with existing players and that may be tough. The main problem now is with bugs and vulnerability - it is way too early for a public appearance it has been forced to make.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Yes, as mentioned on the post above, google chrome has very less new things to offer. the only asset it has is definitely i too feel is speed. but still as another user has also said, it is still in its beta stage and just too quick to make any judgment. we can still wait for sometime for a full-fledged version.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:28 am
@Tiago
Interesting perspective. I don’t think being in Beta is an excuse for releasing bad software, and I am not saying that Chrome is bad software per se. In fact all I am saying is that Chrome did not live to the hype that long, and this is probably due to its age. It is a baby compared to its competitors, so there definitely is a lot of room for growth. More competition is always better, IMHO.
@James
I have installed Chrome on over 5 PCs so far, and out of all the PCs I’ve installed it in, it was on my home PC that I had the most difficulty with - I never got it to run. It is a very good system, too. I swear I tried at least 10 times before I gave up. That’s how much I wanted Chrome installed on my home system - partly because of security (screw IE) and partly because I hated Firefox 3’s security model. Stuck with Firefox 2 on that machine till they get Chrome to work on it.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:53 am
This is really big question - but Google has done many huge things - so I am sure they can surprise us even more. I really don’t think that Google will let Chrome down - of course, there are a long way to go..but why should we guess things..soon enough we will see.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:34 am
[...] have already seen a blog post titled 3 Reasons Why Chrome is Dying (pretty controversial) but we have to understand that Chrome is not even fully born yet - it is [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Statistics for Chrome fans seem steady. It’s the geeks that download alternative browsers and the amateurs stick with Internet Explorer so the technology niche numbers count.
October 5th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Buggy it may be, but it sure is fast and that’s what has kept me hooked.
October 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I never had my chrome crash once. Take Firefox for instance when I was using second version it crashed almost a dozen times and see where Firefox is now. more than the hype for its release there more hype for its death. come on stop being the voice of doom….give chrome some time.
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
All i can say is, lol @ Firefox Beta.
It was terrible. I got rid of it a few minutes later.
Chrome is significantly better than Firefox was at this stage, even without addons (which were just assigned last night if i remember correct)
I’ve dropped Firefox and Opera for this, hell, even Konqueror.
The speed keeps me, regardless of the features not present just now.
And now that there is (some) Greasemonkey support, you can add userscripts to websites and even add your own CSS to them as well. (the only thing is that there are no website selections for now, but you can detect the URL using javascript, then insert CSS that way, the way it should be done)
October 31st, 2008 at 8:00 am
What you haven’t mentioned here is, that Google Chrome works completly different than other browsers. While Firefox & Co. have one running task for all tabs, in Chrome every tab has his own task. This means, if one tab crashes, you can still work with the others. Or plugins: They’re running in a sandbox, so they can’t access your system and the risk of getting a virus is much lower.
So i think the Chrome browser has a future. The only thing I don’t like about it is how much data it collects about you…
greetings from switzerland
mpb