Well I'm finally biting the bullet and switching to Chrome. I have been a loyal Flock user for a very long time now, but I just can't handle it anymore. The constant crashing, the corrupted profiles, the sticky add-ons, and the general incompatability with everything but the most basic web tools. I know it's a firm shake-off, but I've been with it for a long time and it's generally been a very stressful existance. I stayed with it through all the bugginess primarily because the extra features were really compelling. Long before Firefox had the "Awesomebar," Flock was mixing your history and your favorites and guessing your destination. Of course this was more in the search bar and less in the main address bar. Also, the RSS reader was ahead of its time and that is one of the things I have not had luck in finding a replacement. That being said, the RSS reader hasn't been upgraded for quite a long time and in terms of features and interface is miles behind Google Reader, which I am currently using for my many feeds. Thank God for OPML exporting!
My switch to Chrome (with Firefox as a backup for incompatabilities) went smoother than I expected. I'm keeping Flock around to make sure I don't lose anything I thought I had already, but I'm pretty sure all my exporting and importing is done. The browser experience on Chrome is superb (as I indicated earlier) but I am missing a few things. For one, the download manager is aesthetically pleasing (and similar to Download Statusbar) but does not offer as many options in where and how to download. Also, videos viewed on the web play by default in the browser using some plug-in instead of allowing me to move it to an external player. Note that I mean file-based videos, not YouTube vids, which obviously play fine.
The performance difference between Flock and Chrome is unbelievable. I feel like I'm using a completely different computer. I probably have 24 tabs open right now, which is fairly typical for me, and I'm experincing no lag and no serious drain on my system resources. It also doesn't get worse over time, it just equalizes at one level and stays there. Hopefully my profile will not gunk up (which is still possible), but I don't feel like Chrome is as gunk-upable.
If you have any questions about how I'm getting along, please let me know. I want this to be a resource for others making the big leap. I haven't played around with some features, like the Application Shortcuts, so there is still a bit more for me to test out.
Good night and good luck!
[Image from SiliconRepublic.com]
I keep an application shortcut on my desktop (my only desktop icon actually) for my email (I use google apps). Other than that, I haven't made the complete jump to Chrome and probably won't until they have better plugin support. I have too many Firefox plugins I use in my daily browsing to completely switch.
ReplyDeleteBut when I do use it, I've always been happy with it.
I switched from Firefox to Chrome because I couldn't stand Firefox anymore.
ReplyDeleteOut of all Firefox add-ons, AdBlock has been the onlyone missed. But there's an acceptable workaround, using a hosts file that links advertising domains to localhost, so that they won't even be resolved.
Chrome is the new Firefox 0.1.