Chrome

Chrome, the Internet browser developed by Google is the better browser especially when compared to Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE). Here are some reasons why:

Internet Explorer is slow

    • In my experience, IE has been slower than competing browsers (eg. Firefox, Chrome) since tabbed browsing was introduced in IE v7. Internet Explorer 8 was a bit faster but so were updated versions of the other browsers. The verdict is still out on IE v9 with its hardware-acceleration capability.

    • When you click on a link, type in a search phrase or a website address, Chrome and Firefox will pull up the web page faster. Chrome works even speedier on Google centered websites - which is great especially if you work off the cloud like I do with Google's Gmail, Calendar, Documents, Voice, etc.

Chrome is more secure than Internet Explorer

    • IE is still the most popular target for hackers and viruses. In addition, IE uses/relies on a technology called ActiveX which, if compromised by a virus or hacker, can allow remote execution of malicious programs on your computer.

    • Chrome has a privacy mode (aka. Incognito) that tells the browser to NOT remember things like visited sites, form fields and search bar entries, passwords, list of downloaded files, cookies and cached files. This is very useful if you're shopping for gifts online, surfing on a public computer, or visiting naughty websites - for research of course!

      • IE has a similar feature called InPrivate browsing, and so does Firefox which is called Private Browsing. Firefox's implementation is a bit annoying because it must close any existing normal Firefox windows to start its Private Browsing.

    • Chrome has built-in phishing and malware detection. If you accidentally type or click on a malicious website address, Chrome will warn you and ask for your confirmation to proceed. Chrome can do this as it continually communicates to Google's database which maintains a blacklist of malicious websites.

    • Chrome has built-it sandbox protection. If a malicious website makes it past Chrome's phishing/malware blacklist, then Chrome's sandboxing mechanism forces the website code to run in an isolated environment away from your main system and personal files.

      • IE and Firefox can acheive this behavior, but you need to download/install separate plug-ins and add-ons to make it work.

IE missing functionality/conveniences with Google online services

    • Only Chrome or Firefox provide you extra functions that is missing in all versions of Internet Explorer

      • drag and drop file attachements in Gmail, Documents, etc.

      • calendar notification pop-ups

Free extensions that add more functionality

    • Firefox started the concept of free add-ons (aka. extensions). IE does not have any.

    • Extensions like...

      • block unliked domains in search

      • better gmail, tasks, etc.

Certain work websites still rely on ActiveX - thus need IE?

    • just use IETab extension for Chrome

Extensions saved to google account

Bookmarks save to google account

Bookmarks bar hoizontal is better

IE Cannot be Uninstalled/Reinstalled for troublshooting

Separate or merge tabs between windows

Simplified address bar + search bar