Google Chrome - A User's review

The timing of the Google Chrome release couldn't have been better for me. The past couple of months have been really frustratin, during which I tried three different browsers. More out of hope than anything else, I migrated to Firefox 3.0, which promised a better performance over the previous version. As it turned out, my hope wasn't to be fulfilled. Then I tried Apple Safari and Opera. But no peace of mind.

My biggest problem with all these browsers has been how they all made me feel that my computer was of RAM or CPU speed. The multi-tab is both a boon and bane. The application consumes more memory as I open more tabs, which is alright. Unfortunately, however careful you may be when it comes to opening multi-tabs, you could end up with a handful soon. The available memory goes down and all that familiar stuff. If you think you can get the memory back by closing the tabs, 'Nay, you are wrong'. Secondly if you end up with one tab that doesn't respond, the entire application (and hence all tabs) become unresponsive. Only way out is to kill the process and reopen the browser. The consolation is that Firefox's crash recovery feature will open all the web pages again, however without the guarentee of retaining the state.

So, how does Google Chrome fare? Chrome addresses both aforementioned problems by making a very brave and innovative decision; that is to spawn one process for each tab. This means each of these processes have their own memory space. If you are short of RAM, you can close some unwanted tabs (and thus kill the respective process) and recover that memory rightaway. Did you note 'Rightaway'? And the same applies for unresponsive tabs as well. When I was going through the Chrome Comic book, I thought, 'Oh god, now we have to wait for a few seconds for every new tab'. It was natural to wonder so, because each tab has to go through the same pain of initlializing,  allocating memory etc. I was proven wrong and I am glad I was. There is no time delay that you could feel. Wow!

The result? User experience is far superior than other available browsers. The start-up time is amaingly short. I can't call the browser light, in terms of memory usage per tab. But as I said, you don't have to waste memory on tabs you closed long ago. 

The Google Gears is visionary and only time will tell us what this will turn out to be.

There are other minor yet can-be-useful features - like the location bar being used for web search as well; Optional default page that provides quick links to your commonly used web pages (At this point, I am not sure if I will ever use this); Search on History; List of recently added bookmarks etc. The UI is nice and simple. No complaints about that.

So, what's missing? I was rather surprised to learn that Chrome doesn't have simple rendering options such as blocking images etc. There might be more to the list, but I don't know yet. I am sure Chrome team has these in their roadmap. If you asked me, Chrome is pretty good for a first release in terms of features. And this time, I am confident that this is more than just hope.

Review: Reliance USB Internet

I recently moved in to a place where BSNL is the only broadband provider. I thought it would be the easiest thing since the telephone exchange is only an earshot away. However, when I approached them I was told that there is a waiting list. And it's not likely to move for next few months. Since I like to work from home at times, I was desperate for a reliable Internet connection.

Well, in my case, the decision making was simple - I needed one and there was (only) one. So, I went for Reliance USB netConnect. Honestly, I didn't have high hopes and the folks at the reliance customer center didn't have much idea about the speed, bandwidth etc. I initially I thought I would use this connection only to check mails and some light browsing. Then when I came home, installed and connected, I was surprised to see that the connection had 230.4 Kbps maximum bandwidth. Even if I get half of this speed, say 128 kbps, then I could do with this, in worst case, make-do.

It's been 3 months since I took this and I would say it has exceeded my expectations. I have seen a maximum of 136 kbps speed. Even though it slows down around noon or drops the connection occasionally, it's reliable most of the time. And biggest plus - you can take this wherever you go. I have been working and attending functions at relatives' at the same time. The mobility factor this brings in is awesome.

The other positive thing is this doesn't need power. You will realize how useful this is during power cuts, like we have in our place. Even when I get my broadband, I am likely to keep this as my back-up.