Extensions Look Imminent for Google Chrome
Extensions Look Imminent for Google Chrome
Posted 11/17/2009 at 12:48pm
| by Bart Salisbury
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Google looks to be opening up the potential of Chrome with the addition of extension support. According to HG Siegler of TechCrunch, the new builds for Chromium, the open-source project behind Google Chrome, contain not as yet turned on links to an extensions gallery.
Apparently, two extensions already exist: Google Mail Checker and BuildBot Monitor. Mail Checker keeps an eye on your Google Mail, displaying the number of messages in your inbox on the Google Chrome toolbar. BuildBot keeps track of the current status of the Chromium build, and notifies you when a newer build is available for download.
According to Siegler, installation is a breeze: “Installing these extensions is a breeze. You click the “Install” link, the file downloads, you click to run it, it asks if you’re sure you want to install the extension, you say “yes”, and you’re done. There is no need to restart Chrome/Chromium, they work right away.” Unlike Firefox it’s load and go. And Siegler reports that Chrome extensions don’t, yet, slow down the browser, like they do in Firefox.
Image Credit: Adobe
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lhatten
November 17, 2009 at 5:33pm
I like the way the article states "that Chrome extensions don't, yet slow down the browser". Sure with just 2 it's going to slow down.
I tried using Chrome, and a few things bothered me. One, is I don't like a stripped down browser. I prefer to have my bookmarks on the side. I have a 24" wide screen monitor, and have plenty of real estate for it. Why waste all that space. Also, I hate that you can't stop a loading site. As far as I can tell, once you click on a site, it will continue load unless you close the browser. Both Windows Explorer and Firefox allow you to stop the downloading of a site. A number of times I have hit the wrong link, and started to download a site I did not want, and it was taking a goodly amount of time to download. Had to close Chrome to stop it. Also, I have had no problems with the speed of Firefox, and did not see a great improvement with Chrome. I would like to see the new version of Firefox with independent process for each tab, but it is not a deal breaker.
ogremustcrush
November 17, 2009 at 1:57pm
I've been using extensions in the dev build of Chrome for about a month now. They work pretty well, and yes there is an Adblock+ extension (although it doesn't work as well as the firefox one.)
DOOMHAMMA
November 17, 2009 at 1:32pm
Once they get adblock I am switching from Firefox to Chrome, until then, I do not really care at all about other browsers.
1337Goose
November 17, 2009 at 1:26pm
Extensions are a slippery slope, and it looks like Google understands this.
On the one hand, extensions let you use your browser in a new way. On the flipside however, extensions can create security holes, slow down the browser, and add clutter to the screen. Chrome is an elegantly simple browser, and although I'm an Opera user, I use Chrome quite a bit.
A poorly implemented extension system could really take away from the Chrome experience. Google has done amazing work in the past, so I'll say that I'm cautiously optimistic, but I'm not counting on extensions to be the revolution that Chrome has been looking for.
~Goose
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