Google Chrome–Some Comments and Requests for Help

June 1, 2009 · by · in Blogosphere Issues

I finally got fed up with Internet Explorer 7. The last straw was the fact that it was choking on Ajax-heavy websites. When I would have the combination of Gmail, Google Calendar and Facebook (or even a subset of these) open as windows, my computer RAM would go into a downward spiral that led to chip overheating, causing the fan to essentially run continuously. This was also destabilizing the windows, leading to at least one browser crash a day.

I decided to try Google Chrome. After all, Google owns almost every aspect of the rest of my life; why not my web browser too? I’ve been running Chrome for the past few days and so far it has been very stable. I have also had almost no situations of runaway chip usage due to Ajax-intensive sites. So far I’d consider the test a success.

However, Chrome also has some quirky aspects. If you have any thoughts about how to deal with these, I would welcome input.

* my biggest frustration with Chrome is that the default screen size is much smaller than my actual monitor size, causing Chrome to render most pages in microscopic type with an excess of white spaces on the page. I can fix this on an ad hoc basis by “zooming” in, although that sometimes distorts page rendering. Is there a way to permanently boost the default screen display so that every new Chrome window shows web pages larger? I have tried boosting the default font size, but that works inconsistently and often just distorts the page layout without improving readability.

* I miss certain aspects of the Google toolbar. Most obviously, I liked being able to see the PageRank of a site. Is there an easy way to view a site’s PageRank in Chrome? I also like Chrome’s native spellchecker, but I don’t fully trust it is working all the time. Is there a way to force spellchecking on demand?

* There are some buttons in my Movable Type pages (probably Flash; maybe Java) that just don’t show up. Any thoughts why? I’m assuming I’m missing some essential plug-in, but I’m not sure what it is or how to get it.

* IE has a feature that automatically tells me if a web page has an RSS feed. Is there an equivalent capability for Chrome?