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There's nothing really wrong with Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) new beta of its Chrome browser for Mac. There are a couple of interesting features, but there's just nothing really fantastic about it either. Google's a big company with plenty of money, and they play with big-boy toys, so they can take the honest truth: Seriously, I was expecting more. Chrome for Windows has been available for more than a year, and the beta for Mac users isn't close to parity with Windows yet.
Chrome for Mac does, however, show promise in a few areas, so I'll banish the negativity and focus on the the good.
Shiney, Clean Racer
First, it's fast. It's basically a wash with Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Safari browser on speed, both of which edge out Firefox.
Second, it's lean and clean -- there's little clutter, and the focus is on the content. The tabs are above the address bar, much like we briefly saw with Safari 4 before Apple sensibly moved them back under. I prefer them below, but it's not a deal-killer.
Speaking of tabs, tab management is easy -- like Safari and Firefox, you can drag and drop the tabs within a browser window. Also like Safari, you can drag a tab off the Chrome window to lift the tab into a whole new browser window. Good stuff. Works well. I also like the little "+" button to the right of the tabs that lets you create a new tab.
Oh, and if you right click on a link in a browser window and launch the URL in a new tab, it doesn't send the tab to the end of your list of tabs -- it places the new tab just to the right of the open tab. Not only do you get the visual cue of it being created, it's positioned closely to the relevant content that prompted you to open the tab in the first place. Nice.
Chrome gives you options.
Here's another tabby feature: When you open up a brand new tab not generated from a URL elsewhere, Chrome shows you thumbnail views of eight recent sites you visited, along with links to recently closed tabs and links to your browsing history. It's handy, and I like it -- but it's not better than Apple's Cover Flow history feature, nor is it as slick as Apple's Top Sites feature.
Crash-Avoidance Feature
While I'm on the subject of tabs, Chrome isolates the processing of each tab from the other tabs so that if one tab crashes, it doesn't affect the other tabs. Great feature. At least once a week Safari will crash on me, and it'll take with it dozens of open tabbed sessions. With Chrome, you'll also theoretically be able to quickly identify the offending Web sites and act accordingly.
I did have Chrome crash on me twice, and it took out all tabs both times. It happened as I navigated to a Web page that ended in a .pdf file. I was expecting the .pdf to load within the page itself -- like Safari -- but Chrome prompted me to download the .pdf. After saving the file to my hard drive, Chrome flashed an animated arrow on the left of the browser window and created a button link to the .pdf file on the bottom of the browser window. Kind of handy, OK, but really, I just wanted to view the .pdf and never think about it again, just like I can with Safari. Now I've got a .pdf file on my hard drive for no good reason. I'll lose a few seconds of my life deleting it, and I know some users who will just clutter up their downloads folder until they can't find anything. Minor quibble, but it's one that's not as friendly as Safari's method.
Either way, on two separate occasions, Chrome completely crashed after handling .pdfs.
Lovin' the Omnibox
The one feature that gives me pause is Chrome's innovative Omnibox. Basically, the address field lets you type in URLs, or fragments of URLs, or just words, and Chrome delivers likely sites, complete URLs, and common search phrases on the fly.
Frankly, it's quite smart, and I really appreciate it. At least once a week I'll cut and paste a search phrase or type in a search word or two and drop them into the address bar in Safari, and Safari chokes on it every time. Come on, three words separated by spaces are obviously not a URL -- why can't Safari just recognize that and fire them off to my default search engine? This is 2009, right? It is for Google Chrome. Dump anything into the Omnibox, and you'll either get a decent drop down list of options or you can hit return and see a full page of search results.
Yeah, this has been available for Windows for a while, but still, it's a damn good feature for the Mac, too.
There are other solid features, too, like Incognito, which lets you browse the Web with a mediocre bit of privacy. A new Incognito window let's you know what's going on: "Pages you view in this window won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however."
Of course, Incognito doesn't stop your ISP from collecting information about where you've gone, so you're not exactly anonymous. However, if you're shopping for gifts for the holidays, Incognito will stymie family members trying to get a peek. (Safari has Private Browsing.)
No Extensions?
While Google launched the beta of Chrome for Mac, it also launched Extensions for Windows and Linux users -- but not for the Mac edition. Basically, extensions are plug-ins that provide additional capabilities to your browser. Firefox has had them for years, of course, but what Google brings to the table is an interesting Google App 
ecosystem, along with a lot of mindshare.
Some of the most popular extensions right now include a Google Mail Checker that displays the number of unread messages in your Google Mail inbox, an extension that translates entire Web pages into a language of your choice, an RSS Subscription extension, and even a Google Tasks extension. There are lots more, of course.
Now, plug-ins for Firefox haven't been compelling enough for me to deal with a browser that's generally slower than Safari, but with the speedy Chrome, I'd be willing to give them a serious whirl.
No Task Manager or Gears
For most users, the lack of Task Manager isn't a big deal -- it's a function that shows you the processes going on in your browser. I'd like it to figure out which stupid ads are messing with my experience. But then again, I'd probably ignore it more than use it. As for Gears, this is a feature that lets you use Google apps offline, as well as lets a Web site provide you with information based on your geographical location -- lots of promise for the future, but right now, not so much.
Overall, if you're a Mac user, Chrome is all right. It's not significantly faster than Safari, if at all, and it's not as extensible as Firefox -- yet. The download is free, of course, but is it worth your time? Only if you're curious or hate Safari or Firefox for some reason. Once Extensions go live, though, Chrome for Mac might have the power to give Safari some real competition on Mac OS X.
