Google's Chrome Browser is Now 4 Years Old

Google's Chrome browser is celebrating its fourth birthday this week.

Google released the first beta version of Chrome on September 2, 2008. The first final release followed on December 11, 2008. Since its launch, Chrome has captured the lead in the market share race and is currently slightly ahead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, with 33.59 percent versus 32.85 percent share.

The browser has been widely credited with increasing the focus on browser speed and security, and forcing Microsoft and Mozilla to substantially accelerate their JavaScript engines. According to JavaScript benchmarks such as Google's Octane, SunSpider or Mozilla's Kraken, chrome is still ahead in this discipline. Google has also influenced its rivals to adopt a silent update mechanism and a reduced user interface that allows more content to be shown in the browser window. Mozilla has also changed its software release schedule to 6 week time frames to match Google's model.

To review Chrome's milestones, Google posted the Chrome Time Machine, which allows the user to click through all major announcements. My personal favorite is the speed tests video, including a comparison of Chrome page load times against a potato gun. The video was launched when Chrome 5 was current (today were are using Chrome 21 as final version and Chrome 23 as developer version).

Google Chrome Speed Tests

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killabanks , September 6, 2012 2:07 AM

as much as i like chrome i am stuck using firefox until they get my mulitouch pad to work it does in ff or ie
-5

DroKing , September 6, 2012 2:13 AM

and..... wait for it..... waittttttt.... It still suck.
2

classzero , September 6, 2012 2:16 AM

must be using a SSD because I do not get these speeds with 60Mb service.
-2

ricardois , September 6, 2012 2:34 AM

too young, a lot to learn yet.
-1

shin0bi272 , September 6, 2012 2:36 AM

I just cant abide by that download system. I like a separate window that pops up and then goes away when its done not some tab I have to open manually.
-1

JasonAkkerman , September 6, 2012 2:39 AM

Four years old and I still can't tell it where to put its cache files without jumping through hoops.
5

LemonMeringueTy , September 6, 2012 2:45 AM

Been using it since Day 1 and haven't looked back
0

boiler1990 , September 6, 2012 2:47 AM

Been using it all four of those years too! Overall it's probably the best browser for average people - it's simple and fast. Firefox is obviously the choice for power users since you get far more customizability (from hardware and software perspectives) than Chrome.
7

overclockingrocks , September 6, 2012 2:48 AM

switched from FF to chrome permanently about 3 years ago once extensions started getting ported and haven't looked back
0

myromance123 , September 6, 2012 2:53 AM

Not to be rude to anyone, however Firefox is simply the strongest in handling boatloads of tabs. I use panorama to separate different tab groups for when I am doing different things. When learning, I make use of many different sites for the tidbits of info they hold.

Chrome, in my personal experience up to now, is unable to stably handle anything more than 20 tabs. There are also times when it decides to have a crashing fit (with only about 2 or 3 tabs open). The only really horrible time I had was with Firefox 4.0. That was a disaster with memory handling. Firefox has pretty much settled down now and is still my preffered browser.

Plus DownThemAll is the love of my life for downloading regardless of OS.
-4

Pennanen , September 6, 2012 2:57 AM

Chrome is fast but its a botnet to begin with.

My firefox loads pages 0.0001s slower but it has noscript and adblock plus.

Choose your destiny.
0

amk09 , September 6, 2012 3:14 AM

shin0bi272I just cant abide by that download system. I like a separate window that pops up and then goes away when its done not some tab I have to open manually.

1. Every download pops up by default on the bottom on the browser.
2. Press Ctrl+J
3. Profit
-1

puddleglum , September 6, 2012 3:17 AM

myromance123Not to be rude to anyone, however Firefox is simply the strongest in handling boatloads of tabs. I use panorama to separate different tab groups for when I am doing different things. When learning, I make use of many different sites for the tidbits of info they hold.Chrome, in my personal experience up to now, is unable to stably handle anything more than 20 tabs. There are also times when it decides to have a crashing fit (with only about 2 or 3 tabs open). The only really horrible time I had was with Firefox 4.0. That was a disaster with memory handling. Firefox has pretty much settled down now and is still my preffered browser.Plus DownThemAll is the love of my life for downloading regardless of OS.
My experience on Linux is exactly the opposite between these two.
1

wildwell , September 6, 2012 3:24 AM

The most surprising thing in this article for me wasn't about Chrome, but about IE still having a 32.85% market share.
5

sherlockwing , September 6, 2012 3:38 AM

wildwellThe most surprising thing in this article for me wasn't about Chrome, but about IE still having a 32.85% market share.

Not surprising at all, some people don't notice the difference between the web browsers and just use what's given to them by default, the WMP users also falls in this category.
-2

sublime2k , September 6, 2012 3:58 AM

I just tried opening those webpages from the video and I have to admit it's not far off, they really do load extremely fast (I'm on 12 Mbit connection).
2

teh_chem , September 6, 2012 4:22 AM

Wow, it feels like it just came out yesterday.

Chrome is meh IMHO. I enjoy the plugin support for FF, but that has nothing to do with chrome. I don't like how chrome is sandboxed (yeah, I understand that's the point), and I HATE HATE HATE how it handles file downloads and print job interfaces (as the default).
0

jacobdrj , September 6, 2012 4:51 AM

I can't just use 1 browser. No 1 browser does everything. Chrome is far more refined than it was 4 years ago, but it is often still unstable, and unable to properly render web pages.

I find myself juggling between FF for work, Chrome for play, IE only when absolutely necessary, and Opera as backup. Of all of those, only Opera feels like a completely self contained system that is always ready and waiting for me, as opposed to all the others that feel somewhat detached and session-centric.

I leave Safari on my computer too, but only if every other browser is somehow not working...

Bravo to Chrome for pushing FF and IE to streamline and promote stability, as FF had been flailing for a while between 3.5 and 3.6, and IE was unmitigated disaster after disaster until IE9...

Opera still owns my mobile web completely, only occasionally being supplanted by Dolphin when there is a glitch.
-4

amuffin , September 6, 2012 6:32 AM

IE is the safest browser, FF and Chrome for other things, such as social networking. Banking/Purchasing=IE, games/forums/social networking=FF and Chrome.
0

Northwestern , September 6, 2012 9:34 AM

I was using IE before I found Chrome in it's 3rd version. I haven't looked back since, but I have switched up my browsers. Chrome for basically anything, Firefox for games/Fayshbewk and Opera for Banking/eBay/Money.

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