Chrome Vs Firefox 3.5 (the tabs)

[dhysk]

Well, I gave chrome a try way back and wasn't too sure I liked it however they didn't have a Linux version out yet so i was running in a VM. I have just installed chrome and I might say it seems pretty smooth. The first thing I liked about it was it when you drag a tab to the desktop it opens a new window. This is a BIG plus for me because I had been asking Firefox for this since tabbed browsing.

That said I realized I'm using an old version of Firefox 3.0.14 or something and installed 3.5. I noticed they added the same feature although on Ubuntu 9.04 its not very smooth and feels kinda jumpy. The part I really don't like is it doesn't open the window right ware I drop the tab if I'm still over the Firefox window. Chrome's however is very smooth and everything 'feels' smoother to me in chrome than in Firefox.

The last thing is with chrome if its the only tab you have it gets rid of the window as you drag the tab around making it easier to do things like drop it in the window behind it. Firefox does not. This feature may or may not mean anything to you but for me it make browsing MUCH easier.

They both seam to be just as responsive as the other when it comes to browsing, however since thats about equal, I looked at memory usage. It looks like chrome is using about 2x as much each with 2 tabs opened(both with slash.dot and Linux today). The other thing I saw was chrome seams to create a new presses for every tab and every once in awhile when I close the tab especially if I had created a new window with it it doesn't go away under the processes and is still using memory.

Anyway this was just a few first impressions and I will continue to play with both for now until I find the one I like better. I like how Firefox looks better except I do like how chromes tabs actually look like tabs.

Ok one last thing, tabs opening new windows is a really big thing to me for some reason, probably because for my needs everything else is about equal. Playing with it a little more Firefox will ALWAYS open the window next to the other one even if i drag it all the way over to my second monitor it will still open over top of the other overlapping it about half way. very annoying....

What do you guys think?

[kerry_s]

i use google-chrome, it runs fantastic on my 450mhz 256mb ram.

tabs are handled different in chrome then any other browser that came before. each tab is a separate process, they say its both for speed and low resource. what it looks like to me is it depends on the content of the tab as to how much resource its using, to spread the load for the cpu.

i don't think the stacking can be helped, i think its more of a window manager thing, then application.

i have no problems, it just works for me, the only thing that annoyed me was the tabs opening in the background, but once i found the "tabs to the front" extension it's just perfect.

also don't trust chrome for large file downloads use a download manager, i use gwget on mine. chrome has the bad habit of quiting the download before its done, small downloads are fine though.

[kerry_s]

google-chrome just got updated again, page load is even faster now & it's using even less resources. i'm on version 4.0.221.8

[vishzilla]

Yep. Chrome is good in tab management. Only thing is when there are lot of tabs, its a little crowded in finding the right tab.

[kerry_s]

Yep. Chrome is good in tab management. Only thing is when there are lot of tabs, its a little crowded in finding the right tab.

shift+esc, double click on the 1 you want?

i rarely use use more than 15, most days maybe 5 tabs, so not a problem for me.

[Stshow]

i use Firefox3.5 now,but it often dies when Flash on,i will try Chrome.

[dhysk]

i don't think the stacking can be helped, i think its more of a window manager thing, then application.


If you're talking about opening tabs not opening ware I drop the tabs that is ONLY a problem with Firefox. Chrome opens the new window ware ever i drop the tab.

[starcannon]

I'm running:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.3) Gecko/20090929 Shiretoko/3.5.3

So far I like it a lot. I compiled this one myself so that I could have better font rendering. The big thing for me in Firefox, the thing that keeps me loyal, is Ad-Block, this plugin is essential or I won't use another browser more than long enough to say "too bad it doesn't have Ad-Block" then I close it, and open FF and keep on surfin.

[Erunno]

Internet Explorer 8 has actually the tab management I like most from all the browsers I have used in recent times (Firefox 3.5 and Chrome 3 are the other ones). It opens new tabs opened from links relative to the parent tab and colour codes them in order to create visually distinctive tab groups. Both of this measures are a boon when dealing with a a large number of ever changing tabs in a single window without breaking the UI conventions like tabs organized in a tree structure do.

As always extensions are Firefox' saving grace and in this particular case TabKit (https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/5447). It allows among other things to mimic IE8's behaviour without going overboard with options like TabMix Plus does.

[aysiu]

I never use separate windows in a browser. Tabs are a godsend, and I always want things to open as new tabs in the same window.

What I hate about Opera and Chrome/Chromium is the tab closing behavior. And that's the number one reason (there are others but they're less important) I stick with Firefox.

I like to have save-for-later tabs, and I do not like new tabs opening next to the tab I'm opening them from. I like new tabs to open at the very right.

In Opera and Chrome, if I try to keep a save-for-later tab, every time I close a tab, it will focus back to my save-for-later tab. I want the focus to go to the tab to the left of the tab I just closed, not the tab I decided to keep open for later.

Likewise, I like to read things in a certain order. If I open a new tab, I want it at the very end, and I'll get to it once I have finished with all the other tabs.

Maybe I'm peculiar this way, but that's the way I like to browse. Firefox lets me do that. Chrome and Opera do not.

[dhysk]

I never use separate windows in a browser. Tabs are a godsend, and I always want things to open as new tabs in the same window.


I agree with you on that one. I always have things open in a new tab thats why the drag and drop is so important to me. Often times i need to use 2 pages at one time or compare them. Rather than switch between tabs I open a new window and have them side by side.

[shafin]

Tab dragging to new window is present in firefox 3.5, if thats what you seek.

[dhysk]

Ya, I thought i covered that in the first post. Firefox's is there but it sucks. Doesn't open in the same location i drop the tab in, and the window stays present when I pull the last tab out of it until it is dropped. So in this respect chrome is much better.

[MellonCollie]

In Opera.......if I try to keep a save-for-later tab, every time I close a tab, it will focus back to my save-for-later tab. I want the focus to go to the tab to the left of the tab I just closed, not the tab I decided to keep open for later.

I think I understand what you're saying here. Preferences > Advanced > Tabs > Change the 'When closing a tab' setting to 'Activate the next tab'. (Edit: Nah, I don't think this is what you're looking for)



Likewise, I like to read things in a certain order. If I open a new tab, I want it at the very end, and I'll get to it once I have finished with all the other tabs.


Right-click on a link and choose 'Open in background tab', or hold Control and Shift when left-clicking a link.

[kerry_s]

I'm running:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.3) Gecko/20090929 Shiretoko/3.5.3

So far I like it a lot. I compiled this one myself so that I could have better font rendering. The big thing for me in Firefox, the thing that keeps me loyal, is Ad-Block, this plugin is essential or I won't use another browser more than long enough to say "too bad it doesn't have Ad-Block" then I close it, and open FF and keep on surfin.


then your in luck, theres adblock+ & adsweep, i use adsweep.

[aysiu]

I think I understand what you're saying here. Preferences > Advanced > Tabs > Change the 'When closing a tab' setting to 'Activate the next tab'. (Edit: Nah, I don't think this is what you're looking for) Doesn't work. Believe me. I've tried every option in Opera.


Right-click on a link and choose 'Open in background tab', or hold Control and Shift when left-clicking a link. Works for Opera but not Chrome/Chromium. Also brings up another annoyance I have with Opera, which is Control-Click not opening in a background tab. To open in a background tab, I have to do Control-Shift-Click. I'm on a netbook, so there's no easy middle-click.

[starcannon]

then your in luck, theres adblock+ & adsweep, i use adsweep.
Woot!
I'll give it a longer test. Thanks for that!
Now to see if I'll like the way it "does things" better.