A Chrome Browser with Extensions Support? You Betcha!
Speed? Check. Minimalistic interface? Check. Better tab management, pretty good standards support, and support for third-party extensions? Check, check, and, well, not yet. But if Google's latest developer preview version of its Chrome browser is any indication, extensions will soon be supported as a standard feature.
"We're ready for a few more people to start using extensions - the kind of adventurous people who populate the dev channel," said Aaron Boodman, the Google engineer who oversees the extensions work.
Google recently began supporting extensions in developer versions of Chrome, but you had to input a command line switch. With the latest preview version of Chrome on Windows, however, extensions are supported by default.
The lack of extensions support has been a major criticism of Chrome ever since it launched, but with support seemingly right around the corner, Firefox users will be faced with a tough dilemma: Switch to Chrome, which has superior tab stability but a smaller library of extensions, or ride it out with Firefox in anticipation of version 4.0, which will also treat tabs as separate processes.
Question for the Firefox users: Would you switch to Chrome if it supported extensions? Hit the jump and tell us why or why not.
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opensuse 11.1
September 10, 2009 at 6:26pm
Really I use firefox, Chrome, IE8 and Opera. I have reasons to use them all. I realized this season there is a compatablity issue with my college and firefox - so over to IE8 I went. Need a multi tool browser with weather updates on the frontend it's my firefox. Want to speed dial websites, to be able to see if any site has had an update you haven't checked out - Opera is the one. Now, don't get me wrong I would love to have one Icon to rule them all, but it's not going to happen in my life time. There's to much coding out on the web to update to make one browser work for everything. So we'll all have to continue to use every browser that is availible.
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quadt
September 10, 2009 at 4:43pm
I use Chrome at work and at home. funny... I'm currenly in FF. haha. normally I use Chrome exclusively, except for IE at work for Share Point and other IE only friendly sites.
I loved Chrome in Beta, I hate the current release cause it seems slow and chunky, but I now started using the beta again and it seems quicker.
I don't use extensions, I guess I'm not as much of a geek as I thought I am. The ones I have used seemed to have some kind of "fall out". slowed the browser down, browser crashed more frequently... Just figured it wasn't worth the hassle.
Anyway I got nothing against FF, I just seem to like the speed (betas) & minimalistic layout of Chrome.
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WFUJay
September 10, 2009 at 1:56pm
When FF 4.0 is released and it's using independent tab processes, Chrome is rendered pretty much pointless considering that's the only actual advantage Chrome had over FF to begin with.
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1337Goose
September 10, 2009 at 4:42pm
Chrome is a little faster and easier to use too. Not that I use either chrome or ff.
~Goose
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cigar3tte
September 10, 2009 at 1:23pm
Adblock is first and foremost, the rest I can live w/o:
Easy DragToGo
Gestures
Tab Mix Plus (I prefer new tabs to be adjacent to current on right side, and closing tab goes to left adjacent tab next)
Xmarks (or any other bookmark manager that stores online)
"Ass so fat that you can see it from the front" -- Mos Def
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MrBlonde81
September 10, 2009 at 12:37pm
It depends on what add-ons show up. If/when No-Script, AdBlock, and TabMixPlus (or equivelant programs) show up I'd give Chrome a shot at being my prefered browser.
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TesserId
September 10, 2009 at 12:33pm
I've been an Opera user since somewhere around version 1.2. But, Opera became my secondary browser when I started depending on Mozilla and now Firefox extensions. While I still love Opera, it just doesn't have as many tools and personal customizations as Firefox has.
So, while Opera performance is stellar, its functionality just hasn't been able to keep up. I can only imagine how Google Chrome will fair in the same market (and I see no hope for IE).
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icebird
September 10, 2009 at 11:46am
I use both. I use Chrome for several intranet sites that I use daily at my job, and Firefox for all my normal Internet use which requires additional functionality provided by my extensions.
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fry
September 10, 2009 at 11:41am
Still searching for a compelling reason to switch from Firefox. Not finding it.
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RedBrain
September 10, 2009 at 11:24am
Switched to Chrome the day it came out. Not looking back anytime soon.
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DogPatch1149
September 10, 2009 at 11:02am
If two of those Chrome extensions are NoScript and Adblock Plus, I'll try it out; otherwise, fuggedaboudit.
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ElectricJazz
September 10, 2009 at 11:02am
Hell Yes!
I want my google bookmarks extension already!
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Maybe you gots ta do something for me, I gots needs too you know. - The Spirit of Jazz.
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farlo
September 10, 2009 at 10:49am
the only addon i need is adblock plus. im new to firefox, but i was a longtime opera fan until recently 9.6+ have had too many compatibility issues with some of my favorite site and had to go.














