Chrome Extension of the Week: Ozone
PrintOh god.
That’s the first thing I said upon installing the Google Chrome extension, “Ozone,” because there’s simply no way around it: This extension is search to the extreme, period.
What do I mean by that?
Suppose you want to search for the name, “Nathan Edwards,” across a whole host of sites. Perhaps you’re interested in all the articles he’s written, or maybe you want to pull him up on Facebook or Wikipedia, or maybe even—god forbid—he’s acted in a movie you really like. Or maybe you sent him a Gmail that you need to look up. Or maybe you want to research his life on Linkedin.
Am I belaboring the point? Hardly, because Ozone spits out these search results—and so many more—into one giant, table-like grid of results whenever you fire up a search by clicking on the extension’s easy-to-hit button in your Chrome toolbar. I’m not kidding. As long as you’re logged into the various services, Ozone will run a search throughout 17 different (huge) online entities to find the information you seek. It’s kind of like having a digital concierge at your fingertips—only, you don’t have to pay or tip a dime for the recommendations.
Or, better yet, it might be fair to compare Ozone to a kind-of Google Desktop Search for your online existence. The fact that you can search your Dropbox account in the same breath as your Google Docs, as well as your browser bookmarks, as well as your browser history… well, let’s just say that if Ozone can’t find what you’re looking for, it likely does not exist. Trust me.
Download it here!
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stige
November 04, 2010 at 6:07pm
this extension looks nuts (as in cool)! i never even knew so much info about nathan edwards existed! (kidding) based on my current search habits though i don't see myself actually using it very much. maybe my habits are a function of me already compartmentalizing everything so i don't have to search each one. based on a topic i already know which place i need to search if a search is even needed. time will tell, but i don't see this one being installed for very long, even as neat-o as it is.
also, 13 comments so far and the only one even remotely about the featured extension is actually the authors (co worker? friend?) giving him a little love tap in the nads. what gives?
fan bois - cool your jets and save the "my browser is better" flame wars for somewhere else. kthxbai.
whiskeymcclinton
November 04, 2010 at 9:55am
After being a long time FireFox user, I finally gave up on it when it just seemed too slow. I tried Chrome early on for a while, but I found it caused occasional system-wide freezes. Now I'm in the minority, and using Opera. Almost all the features that Firefox and Chrome brag about, Opera had when they were still in diapers. Best, most flexible use of tabs, fastest page rendering (almost too fast, I can see the unformatted HTML on some pages during the load), and a recycle bin for my closed tabs!
I tried Chrome again more recently, and it looks like they got the bugs out, but they never really reinvented the browser. It's a cleaner interface, but it's still a derivative of opera and firefox, interface-wise.
Let's see something really new. Get rid of the forward, back, stop, and home buttons, and give us a cookie trail interface, like in the Windows 7 file explorer. Since a tab is really a short term bookmark, blend the interface for bookmarks & tabs, and allow us to group them how wee see fit. Gestures should be standard (they already are in Opera). Any more ideas?
I Jedi
November 04, 2010 at 7:14am
Honestly, who the hell here uses Chrome? I know, I know, there are going to be a few Google-fanboys of the browser, but what exactly does Chrome bring to the table? What, Chrome is faster than Firefox, and more secure than I.E.? Get real... I like Google, I really do; however, when I look for a browser, I turn to Firefox. Although, I.E. has been making large improvements ever since they decided to up their game. And yes, I know I'm about to get a flamewar/backlash from a lot of you, but why do you guys USE Chrome? My friend loves Chrome, refuses to go back to Firefox, and he's never really said why. He simply states that Firefox is a resource-intensive browser. While I agree with him on that point, I would rather have a browser that has been in the works for nearly a decade now. Hate me for it, but prove me why I should switch to Chrome.
Walnut
November 04, 2010 at 11:36am
I don't even have Firefox installed anymore. Use Chrome for everything you do for one week. I bet you'll find things that you like. It can import all your bookmarks and whatnot; load it up with extensions (if you use any) and try it for a week. I'm using the least stable build available (which I wouldn't recommend) and I STILL get fewer crashes than with Firefox. The memory footprint is smaller, but not hugely so, but Chrome doesn't leak memory like FF. You won't open up task manager and be surprised to find your browser eating 1.5GB of RAM. This happened to me countless times with FF before I switched. The real kicker is that it almost always not only necessitated a browser restart but a computer restart because FF can't clean up after itself while it's leaking like a sieve.
Also, and this is the big thing, Chrome FLYS compared to FF. It's really a lot faster. I'm not talking benchmarks; I'm talking like noticeable speed increases while surfing the web. The last time I used Firefox was about three months ago and it felt like I was crawling along at a snail's pace.
There's plenty of other stuff, too. Security is great, etc. It's all already been said. I do like FF; it's a good browser. I just like Chrome a lot more.
someuid
November 04, 2010 at 10:39am
After Netscape Navigator went down and out, IE took some 95% of the market, maybe more or a little bit less. And what happened - Microsoft sat there and didn't release a new version of IE for years. The whole brwoser scene stagnated, until some small ones (like Firefox) started doing new things, shaking up the market, and waking up Microsoft. Of course, Microsoft was too slow to wake up, which let others make web browsers and gain some market share.
So why do I use Chrome? To ensure there are other web browsers being used, there is no one dominant browser, and the developers and companies don't get fat and lazy again.
So, I don't want you to use Chrome. You're happy with Firefox and I'm happy with Chrome, and between the two of us, and all the IE and Opera users, and everyone else, we'll ensure by using different browsers Google, Microsoft, et al won't get lazy again and let browser development move to the back burner.
Same with operating systems. Let the Mac users use Macs. Let the Linux folks use Linux. Between them and us, it will force all those companies out there to keep inovating, bringing us new goodies and tech to play with.
There is no one best way to do anything. There are 6,295,129,782 to do 1 task on a computer, and the more ways the better.
Airheadq
November 04, 2010 at 8:51am
It's personal preference really. Personally, Chrome is suited towards weaker computers with its minimalist UI. Everything is a bit snappier and the UI is perfect for netbooks. I've used Chrome, but to me its just for basic web browsing. There are little quirks that there is no way I can use it as my main browser all the time.
Firefox is the kitchen sink. It has everything and it can do everything. Memory wise, it not an issue. I don't see where all of these complaints are coming from when the norm is 4 gigs of RAM. Sluggishness, not really. Chrome does feel snappier but I've tweaked FF that it beat Chrome in a few rendering test. Chrome for me at least is suited for lighter computers and will probably always that way. And I'll still be a FF user.
aviaggio
November 04, 2010 at 9:58am
Unfortunately I think you've proved *our* point -- why have to mess around with Firefox when you can just load up Chrome and it's speedy out of the box? Just cause you can use a slower, more resource hog of a browser doesn't mean you should.
And just about anything you need to do in Firefox you can do in Chrome. 99% of Firefox addons have an equivalent in Chrome.
I understand it all comes down to personal preference, and that's fine. But that's more of an aesthetic reason than a functional one.
aviaggio
November 04, 2010 at 8:03am
I'm afraid you're probably in the minority. Chrome is what all the cool kids are using now.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I switched because I got tired of the ridiculously long load time for Firefox. And the Chrome UI, tho it took a bit getting used to, is far superior to Firefox.
Seems the reasons for "proving" why Chrome is better is a long list and you're just digging your heels in to stick with what you know. And that's fine. But it makes you come across as a bit of an old fogey. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised to find out you're still using XP instead of Win7, cause, y'know, it's time-tested technology as opposed to this newfangled OS.
I Jedi
November 04, 2010 at 9:07am
Well, to begin, no I do not still use Windows XP. I went from Windows XP, to Vista, and now I am using Windows 7. Ha. Ha. To the main point of this post; Yes, I do like Firefox because it is familiar to me. More than that, the addons I want are with Firefox, and personally, Firefox has never really let me down before. It's crashed on a few occassions, but has always managed to bring back the work I was doing, and is rarely slow on my setup. Of course, when I was just a beginner to computers, I only used I.E., no matter how much my friend (same guy in my original post) tried to convince me to move to Firefox. Eventually I did, but that was because Firefox was receiving a lot more attention that I.E. was back in the day. Personally, I plan to stick with Firefox as my choice of browser, and I respect everyone else's decision to go to Chrome, if they will.
bigm0ney13
November 04, 2010 at 7:51am
20+ tabs that are individual sandboxed and it always starts back up where I left off. Firefox chrashed and that was the end of my vast amount of tabs.
No pop-ups means no pop-ups. It was a nightmare with firefox.
The "new tab" page
I can use it with just my G9 mouse.
The only extensions I have are "undo closed tabs" and ChromeIE, everything else is pretty much built in.
The aesthetics of chrome and its minimalistic interface.
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