thechromesource – Google Chrome and Chrome OS News and Forum

New Version Of Firefox To “Borrow” From Chrome

Posted on 04. Aug, 2011 by Nicholas Greene. 1 Comments

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that’s the case, Mozilla’s just piling on compliments for Google with their latest version of Firefox. On Monday, Mozilla designer Stephen Horlander posted up a bunch of conceptual screenshots- he called them “really early mockups”- on his blog. One of the first comments a lot of folks made? “Huh…looks a lot like Chrome.”

The appearance isn’t just superficial, either.

In addition to looking a lot more like Chrome, Mozilla’s looking to add their own version of Chrome’s Omnibox to their browser. In the process, they’re nixing the dedicated search bar that used to sit next to the address bar. They’ll also be adding an improved fullscreen mode- again, kind of similar to what Chrome’s already got. Oh, and in this new conceptual design for Firefox, you’re able access icons for addons as well as cut,copy,paste, and create new tabs via a new ‘functionality’ menu.

One interesting touch is that only the active tabs have the new, ’rounded’ look of Chrome’s tabs. Whatever tabs you don’t happen to have open at the time will retain their original rectangular shape. Not a bad idea, I must say. It’d definitely make scanning through tabs a hell of a lot easier. As an added bonus, it doesn’t look too shabby, either.

All in all, some pretty good changes- there’s nothing wrong with making one’s browser a bit more like Chrome. Just the same, though…I think I’ll still stick with Chrome. While it’s good that Mozilla’s adapting their browser a bit in an effort to make it more appealing to those folks who are thinking of switching over to Chrome, at the same time…Chrome still has quite a few features that blow Mozilla out of the water.

For one, Chrome’s still faster. Until Mozilla manages to get hold of something that gives them as much speed as Instant Pages-which, as you all know, just debuted in Chrome 13- Chrome’s always going to have that one advantage over its competitors. What’s more, after experiencing both app stores…I’ve gotta say, I like Chrome’s Web Store better. More security, a nicer looking interface, and…well, better addons, in my opinion. Plus, there’s Chrome’s HTML5 functionality- something that current versions of Firefox require an addon for.

Not to say the new Firefox doesn’t look good. Quite the opposite- they’re definitely on the right track. But it’s like I’ve said before: until one of Google’s competitors in the browser market figure out something that completely blows Chrome out of the water…I’m a Chrome man, through and through.  I definitely give props to Mozilla for trying, though. Here’s hoping they make their browser even better as time goes on.

Because at the end of the day, that means Chrome will end up improving, too- if only to compete with Firefox.

Gotta love capitalism.

via Tech Crunch

Does Chrome Only Have “Perceived” Speed Superiority?

Posted on 18. Jun, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

It was brought to my attention today that another intrepid blogger has taken a highly technical view on the Firefox versus Chrome debate. Since we’ve put up articles and videos directly related to this topic, it seems that we should give these thoughts a fair view here. The contention here is whether Chrome is really that fast, or if it is simply a perception from its user interface.

Here are some graphs and videos, check out the link to get more information on the terminology. I learned a lot from this post, and here’s hoping that you do too.