Simple, effective, fast and now ready for more than 1500 extensions, Google Chrome is the browser that you must have!
Did you remember the time just two years ago, where the search giant was totally absent from the field of Internet browsers? The market was dominated by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Firefox, published in 2004, reached little by little to shake the leader and snatch the first place from his rival. But now Google, eighteen months ago, has launched Chrome, its own browser.
And it is clear that Google knows the strength of Chrome, although used by some Internet users still, and this growth is fastest in the history of browsers. The reasons for this success: Innovation remains at the heart of the approach of Google and copied in the evolution of software.
Modularity finally makes its appearance
In eighteen months Chrome has grown from a Beta 1 to a version 3 stable, winning over its different versions, new features, speed, reliability, while remaining a simple copy. But Chrome still lacked a fundamental virtue: modularity. Firefox since its beginnings can add a lot of functions by a system of external modules programmed by independent developers. These little add-on software has attracted users by the rich possibilities they offer.
But there it is: version 4 of Chrome can finally add “extensions”. And Google was well prepared for his move: with a special version of the browser, developers are already working on extensions. So on the day of the release of Chrome 4, over 1500 extensions were available!
Enriched pages, aids research, integrated media player, small games, clocks, direct integration of services like Twitter and Facebook, machine translation … the list is long, very long. The official development team of Chrome does not hesitate to headline on their blog as “More than 1500 new features for Google Chrome”. That is to say!
The news does not stop there, though; do not be deceived, extensions are the essential point: Chrome also inaugurated a system for synchronizing bookmarks, becomes even faster, much faster, and integrates new technologies that prepare the transition to HTML 5, the future of the Web.
Rediscover in this case the strengths of Chrome. And most importantly, follow us into the world of extensions. Chrome 4 is the revolution of time. Our advice: Adopt it without delay!
Installation: manual
The installation of Chrome is extremely simple. Just with any browser, go to Google Chrome. If you have already installed a previous version of Chrome, know that the software updates itself automatically … and silent. So it is not clear whether or not the version you have is good.
To find out, click the “Tools” menu button. From the “View” menu, select “About Google Chrome”; the window that opens shows you the version number. If your version is too old, an “Update Now” button appears. Click on it and let Chrome act. In a few moments, you have version 4
Why Chrome?
What strange reason may push Google to engage in the development and mass distribution of free software? Especially as all Parisians have noticed, Google has launched an expensive advertising campaign of a scale uncommon in subway stations. At Google, we explain that this is simply to familiarize the public with a browser.
It’s simple: Google is the undisputed leader in Internet search and takes about 98% of its revenues from the advertisements displayed on the results page of search engine. Any new visitor or user stammering which includes the Web is simple, will necessarily end the enrichment of the firm. While Google has, to develop a strategy: to make use of the Web simpler, more usual. The effort also comes at the right moment: Microsoft will soon propose to all Windows users to choose their web browser, without requiring Internet Explorer. Fans of the Mac and Linux have not been forgotten by Google, even if they have not been spoiled. For now, though Mac and Linux versions of Chrome 4 do exist, they are only for developers. But they can still be installed by anyone. We do not recommend it, anyway. Since unstable, they can lead to crashes and quickly frustrate users and thus give them the wrong idea about the actual quality of the software. If you still cannot wait, you can download these versions.
Features that make the difference
Separate tabs
Tabbed browsing is a rather common feature of browsers. Chrome is no exception. Most importantly, each tab is handled as if it were separate software. Hence robustness is foolproof: if a website causes a crash, only the tab that should appear in the top stop, without others being affected. In addition, each tab can be moved, with the help of the mouse, from the body of the browser to become a separate window, click on the title of a tab and hold down the left mouse button. Move the mouse to tab out of the window chrome. Release the pressure: a new window is created.
Similarly, you can return a tab from one window into another Chrome window. Get, with the left button of the mouse, the title of a tab and then, while holding the button depressed, drag the tab just above the address bar of the target window. Release the mouse button.
Surfing discreetly
If you do not want to trace a session of surfing the Internet, Chrome 4 is well planned for that. Click on the button-shaped wrench and select, in the menu, “New private window”. The window that opens is recognizable: the outline of a spy emerges at the top left. Nothing that you do in this window will be saved in your history, and sites visited will not leave any information (cookies) on your hard drive.
A personalized portal
Chrome eats your lifestyle to offer the service most appropriate. When you create a tab, clicking on the icon “+” sign, or using the key combination “Ctrl” + “T”, Chrome displays thumbnails of sites you visit most often. And if the sites displayed are not those you would like, then place the mouse cursor over a thumbnail. It is then framed by a small blue window in which you will see two icons: one pushpin can permanently fix the preview while the cross removes it.
An intelligent address bar
You might have noticed that there is no search bar in Chrome. Only the address bar can enter information. Called the Omnibox, it is particularly smart. If you begin to enter the address of a site, at Omnibox, gradually as you type you are provided with suggestions based on your browsing history, favorites, and also the sites most frequently visited. But if you just want to search and do not directly want to enter the address of a site, then type your query directly into the Omnibox and press Enter.
You will be redirected to the results page of a search engine. The default engine is Google, but you can decide otherwise: click on the icon wrench and then select Options. In the window that opens, click the Basic Options tab and then, in Default search section, select from the drop the desired search engine. Confirm this by clicking on Close.
Velocity foolproof
For Google, the browser speed is vital because the Web is evolving at a phenomenal rate. And if the ‘classics’ sites are still numerous, the internet users already use the Web for online software such as webmail, office software… And to make this type of sites that use JavaScript technology, browser resources are severely tested.
Therefore a browser capable of running JavaScript programs works very quickly. Chrome 3 was already in the forefront, just passed by Safari in terms of speed. With version 4, Chrome significantly improves its speed. Thus, it is especially important to allow full advantage of today’s Web.
Two new developments that will count
Your favorites online
Changing browser is a bit like changing phone: do not forget to transfer all the contacts that were saved in the SIM card. For the browser, the equivalent of contacts, are the favorites. As a reminder, to add a site in your bookmarks with Chrome, just when you’re on a site, click in the Address bar, on the little icon of a star.
Now, Google has built into its browser: bookmarks synchronization. And it’s magic: we find all his favorites on any computer, not necessarily your own, for example at work and at home. The secret: The favorites are stored online on a remote server.
Enabling this function only takes a few seconds: simply go to the “Tools” menu (the wrench icon) and click “Synchronize my favorites…” You must then enter your username and your Google password. Ones you use to log into Gmail, it’s done. If you do not have a Google Account, you can create one directly by clicking on the link “Create a Google Account” at the bottom of the window.
A new message informs you of the success of the operation. Now, from any computer with Chrome, you can pick your favorites by simply repeating the operation.
Extensions
Extensions are the biggest news of Chrome 4. Not because it is a novelty that it is complicated. On the contrary! To install, simply click on the wrench shaped icon, then select Extensions. A new tab opens with a list of all those installed. Of course, by default, on first use, none of them is already present. Chrome offers you to discover them by clicking on the link “browse the gallery”.
The Google Chrome Extensions site, where all extensions are stored and cataloged, opens. A search engine allows you to directly find the ones you know by the name, and also those corresponding to a problem. Type for example “image”: the list of all extensions described with the word image is displayed.
Fortunately, in the left column, filters allow you to view directly top rated, most popular, most recent. When you see an extension that might interest you, simply click on their name highlighted in blue and a description appears. If you decide to adopt the extension, just click the big blue button “Install”. Confirm your intent in the window that opens. The extension is then downloaded and installed in a few seconds (because the extensions for Chrome are very small, at most a few hundred kilobytes). And Chrome is very high: in most cases, restarting your browser is not necessary to confirm the installation.
Extensions installed appear most often in the form of buttons to the right of the Omnibox. To use, simply click on it! Most commonly, a small window will appear displaying information. All, however, are not visible as buttons. They can, in effect, simply add a function when browsing without having to be invoked.
To manage your extensions, uninstall, disable, activate, install new, click again on “Extensions” in “Tools” menu (the wrench icon). This time, the lists of all installed extensions are displayed. In respect of each of them, there are two links: Disable and Uninstall. Just add any button option that provides access to the settings of the extension.
Finally, the bottom of the page is always the “Other extensions” link, pointing to the extensions gallery. All that remains now is only to install useful extensions! We selected twenty-seven for you to discover in the following pages of our record.
Extensions adapted to your needs
The new Chrome accepts extensions. Developers did what they were doing, and have already created hundreds. We have chosen for you the best.
Utilities
AdThwart
If webmasters love to sprinkle their sites with banners and advertising screens, which arise without warning, we and other user appreciates as much less as possible. With AdThwart, say goodbye to most advertisements. This extension works with a list of advertising companies regularly updated which automatically blocks the display of content. Important: AdThwart does not access your private data! But nothing prevents you through the options, add your own addresses to block advertising, or otherwise, deciding to let some selectively.
Bookmark Tree
Chrome manages the favorites in a very efficient manner: it does not really need them in folders and sub-folders. Once your site is listed in the favorites, simply click on the star icon in front of the address field and then you can find them easily by simply typing a partial name of a page in the Address Bar. But if you prefer to go through management “to the former” with a tree classic favorites ordered thematically, then Bookmark Tree is for you. With a click, the whole tree in your favorites folder is visible in proportions and with a font that you can modify to your liking.
Google Translate
No need to confine the Web Freephone with machine translation services available on the Internet, it is quite possible to go and visit sites written in an exotic language … and still read in English. With the extension of Google Translate, whenever you’re on a non speaking site, a toolbar appears at the top of the page, offering to perform an automatic translation. Note, however, this type of translation has its limits and can mislead by introducing nonsense.
Google Sidewiki
Take an impressions of a website and have them always at hand for the day when you return to the site. Or view the comments of other users about a site. This is the new service called as Google SideWiki. But to use it you need to install the Google Toolbar which is not available for Chrome 4. This small extension fixes this oversight. With a simple click on the icon you will see all the comments left by visitors and can leave your own.
Clickable Links
When surfing on the page of a site, it is not uncommon to come across the address of another interesting site or an e-mail that it would send an email. But this is not because you will click on it and something will happen. Because, for an address that can be followed by clicking on it, it is still necessary for the webmaster to associate a link. With this extension, no more worries: all the addresses of sites mentioned and all email addresses become clickable, even if this was not the original intent of the site editor!
Web of Trust (WOT)
Web of Trust is a small extension which is responsible for providing guidance about the safety of links found on web pages opened. Once a link is displayed, a small icon in the shape of an ellipse is displayed at his side. A simple color code (green, orange, red) then indicates the degree of dangerousness of the site behind the link. Things that are taken into account in assessing the danger: the number of malware found on the site, whether or not generates spam if one leaves an email address, etc… For detailed information on the threat level, just fly over the icon with the mouse when they appear in a separate window.
Goo.gl url shortener
Once we found an interesting link, you want to communicate with your relatives. But this is not very practical when the address is particularly complicated, as is often the case on the Internet. Indeed, specific addresses are often long since made up of the base address (which leads to the home page) followed by a series of cryptic characters. The solution: Use a service of shortcut address, creating, on demand, bearing an address in very few characters and pointing to the right place. With this extension, the manipulation is done in one second by just clicking on the icon of the extension when you are on the page you want to shorten the address and a shortened address appears instantly in a small window. Just have to copy/paste this shortcut.
IE Tab
Microsoft has always believed that the Web must comply with its methods, and not vice verse. Internet Explorer interprets web pages so differently than most other browsers, including Chrome. And some sites are designed to be read with Internet Explorer and do not work properly with other browsers. Fortunately, there is a solution. The IE Tab extension allows you to open a new tab that uses the Internet Explorer engine (that is to say, so much of the software which manages the display sites) to make the Site page visible!
Autozoom
There is a zoom feature by default in Chrome, rather tedious to handle, that is activated via the menu or using keyboard shortcuts. With the Autozoom extension, you can precisely control the zoom level with a single click. And you can also assign a zoom level by default to be systematically applied to the opening of any new page.
Gadgets
eBay Extension for Google Chrome
If you are a passionate buyer who is constantly on the gem or eBay sells numerous items, tracking your auction is vital to you. With this official expansion, developed by the team of eBay, you’ll always have before me information about items that you list and those you have made bids.
Evernote Web Clipper
Evernote is a service that takes care for you, forever, and for free, all kinds of documents. At any time while browsing the Web, you can choose to retain any part of a site as text such as an image, etc. To do this, through the Evernote extension, simply click on the icon, and done! If the manipulation is extremely simple and fast, however, it asked to have previously opened an account on the Evernote Web site.
AniWeather
The mini-icon of AniWeather informs you in real-time about the weather (sun, clouds, rain, snow) and temperatures near you or near your cousin. Click it and an animated mini-window (easily removable by clicking elsewhere) offers a complete weather: wind strength, maximum and minimum temperatures of the day or the next day, humidity, etc. And it works, of course, in any city on the planet.
Search
Google Preview
Having searched in Google, it is not always easy, among the different proposed outcomes, choose the link that surrender. Markings in text are often insufficient to get a real idea that contains sites behind the links. With Google Preview, each search result is adorned with a graphic overview of the corresponding site, which is handy!
Select to Get Maps
The mapping services are now online that really works. This extension is intended to make their use simpler: once a physical address displayed somewhere on a Web page, simply select it and make a click with the right mouse button to open directly on Google Maps, centered on the selected address.
Google Similar Pages Beta
The Web is the subject of repetition: countless pages dealing with the same subjects show the same types of multimedia content. With Google Similar Pages Beta, you can easily navigate from one site to another in search of the right information. When you find a page that matches what you want, but which is not the desired information, click on the icon of extending Google Similar Pages Beta. A small window opens and you have four other sites “Similar” with, for each, a graphical view.
Google Quick Scroll
When performing a search in a search engine, it is not uncommon among the results; it falls on a page that contains very good response, but that is lost in a mass of other information not relevant. Quick Scroll Google intends to always position you in the right place on the page. After performing a search in Google (the only search engine with which this extension works), click on one of the proposed outcomes: Google Quick Scroll automatically take you to the place where the word is in your query.
Organization
Google Reader Notifier
The Web is no longer only to display static information: all dynamic media following the news publish their information on the Internet. The flow from these sources of information in real time is called RSS. To read them, even though most browsers can take a feed directly, there are more software-specific practices, as well as Web services. Among them is Google Reader. The Google Reader Notifier extension informs you constantly in the number of flows received and those unread.
Google Reader Plus
Once adopted Google Reader to read RSS feeds information, we may regret certain simplicity of its interface. Nothing could be easier than to restore the color by applying different themes, adding interactivity in the form of a bar menu in the Aero style, or additional functions as the transition from news to another with a single click, etc. The secret: Adopt Google Reader Plus. In the option menu, it makes it possible to configure at leisure through Google Reader.
Google Mail Checker
If you manage your mail with webmail from Google, this extension is simply indispensable: the number of letters received but not yet read in Gmail is displayed continuously on the icon of the extension. In addition, it specifies the number of new emails waiting for you. And to open Gmail, just a simple click on the icon is required. Easy and effective.
Google Calendar Checker
When one surfs the Web, we let the time fly often unwittingly to the point, sometimes, and miss the time of an appointment. With this extension, you’ll never have to apologize for missing your appointment. As long as you note your schedule in Google Calendar, the remaining time, until the next event is recorded, it will continuously be displayed on the icon of the extension to you! After clicking, you will be opening your calendar automatically in a new tab.
Html2pdf
A Web page you are particularly interested and would like to keep a copy on your hard disk in a single file with all pictures included? For this, the PDF format is perfect. And to turn, in a click, a Web page into a PDF; the palm of simplicity is back to this extension. Simply clicking on the icon and the transaction is completed!
Images
Picnik extension for Chrome
Picnik extension is to publish images on the Web. A sort of PhotoFiltre or Photoshop, more simply, which is used directly on the Net without having to install software. With the Picnik extension, when you’re on a site, click on the icon to make a screenshot of this site. The Picnik site launches automatically in another tab. You can resize the image, rework, before saving.
Cooliris
The new way to view your images, visit your library and find new pictures and videos called Cooliris. The principle: Once the extension is installed, a small icon appears in superimposed images on many sites. A click over it and Cooliris launches into a new tab. Here you can see the selected images, presented in a 3D interface! This is a wall of pictures in which you move the mouse. Double-click on an image and it appears immediately in full screen. Once adopted, you cannot do without it.
