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Chrome Corner - weekly updates, extensions, themes, and tips for Google Chrome
The weekend's over and it's time to get back to work...and to have another look at what's been going on with Google Chrome! What's in store for this installment? Googlers talking Chrome OS with Ars Technica, a helpful tip for those of you reluctant to install too many extensions, and a beef with the Extensions Gallery.
Let's go!
Mac dev build gets a slew of updates
Last week was a busy one for Google Chrome devs as new builds were pushed to both the beta and developer channels --the Mac version seems to be getting a lot of attention of late.
Mac's latest dev channel release fixed some problems with the bookmarks manager, enabled the task manager, added support for pinch-to-zoom, and addressed a number of other bugs. Perhaps the single most important fix this time around: the Quake Live plugin is now working!
Chrome OS will feature a local media player app
While the early glimpses we've gotten into Chrome OS seemed very much in keeping with that "the browser IS the OS" sentiment, it looks as though Chrome OS will feature at least one additional bit of local software: a media player.
In a lengthy interview with Ars Technica, engineering director Matthew Papakipos spoke a little bit about Google's plans for handling local media files - JPEGs, MP3, video. Papakipos said, "To have a computer, that's the other thing you need: you need a way to play [...] that stuff when you're offline."
In my experience, he's right. For the vast majority of my customers, using their computer is primarily about Facebooking in their browser or listening to MP3s and watching downloaded videos. If Chrome OS is to have any chance with average users, it really needs this functionality. How to integrate it is the tricky bit.
What form do you think it will take? FoxyTunes might be a good source for inspiration...
Worried about Chrome extensions using too much memory? Try a Userscript instead!
It seems whenever we publish a post about an extension for Google Chrome that we get at least one comment wondering how loading up with add-ons affects performance. One way to save on resources is to opt for Userscripts instead of extensions when possible.
Although Chrome handles Userscripts in much the same way as extensions, there's one subtle difference: they won't add an additional 6MB+ process to your Chrome task manager (which you can view by pressing shift + ESC).
"That's great," you say, "but are there any good Userscripts which work with Chrome?"
Sure there are - our previous list of 10 is a good place to start!
1Password crew debuts early version for Chrome!
A long-time favorite of Mac owners, 1Password recently outed an alpha version of their password manager for Chrome. Right now, it's apparently only working in the Chromium nightly builds -- but that will change as the browser features it requires move into the official dev channel build (and eventually the beta).
Can we get a cleanup on aisle 5? Extensions Gallery needs some TLC.
Growing pains are totally normal with something like Google's recently-launched Chrome Extensions Gallery. I'm not the only one who wants to see categories added. They would certainly make it easier to find extensions that interest me -- and avoid the ones which don't.
Example: there are now 44 basketball stat extensions for various NCAA teams, all published by statsheet. If you're sifting through the Gallery to see what's new, that's four and a half pages of (lets face it) extension spam -- in my mind, anyway. Why not roll this into a single extension with an option to select your favorite team?
Well, for one thing it would only give your domain name 1/44th the exposure on a fairly busy site that's only going to get busier as Chrome becomes more popular.
I suppose the same thing happens over at the Firefox Addons site (Brand Thunder, I'm talking to you) -- but at least there I can browse by categories, collections, and tags.
A long-time favorite of Mac owners, 1Password recently outed an alpha version of their password manager for Chrome. Right now, it's apparently only working in the Chromium nightly builds -- but that will change as the browser features it requires move into the official dev channel build (and eventually the beta).
Can we get a cleanup on aisle 5? Extensions Gallery needs some TLC.
Growing pains are totally normal with something like Google's recently-launched Chrome Extensions Gallery. I'm not the only one who wants to see categories added. They would certainly make it easier to find extensions that interest me -- and avoid the ones which don't.
Example: there are now 44 basketball stat extensions for various NCAA teams, all published by statsheet. If you're sifting through the Gallery to see what's new, that's four and a half pages of (lets face it) extension spam -- in my mind, anyway. Why not roll this into a single extension with an option to select your favorite team?
Well, for one thing it would only give your domain name 1/44th the exposure on a fairly busy site that's only going to get busier as Chrome becomes more popular.
I suppose the same thing happens over at the Firefox Addons site (Brand Thunder, I'm talking to you) -- but at least there I can browse by categories, collections, and tags.
Comments
9
Subscribe to commentsVolomanJan 25th 2010 4:05PM
Userscripts needs a 'Chrome' tab. I cant tell you how many times I've tried to upload one of my fav Firefox scripts into chrome only to find it doesn't work. they have a jetpack tab... give chrome some love
8complexJan 25th 2010 4:16PM
Thanks for the note on the memory check on extensions. Found out that Cooliris (installed this morning) was sucking 120MB of memory, and I had only run it ONCE!
Unfortunately, I pretty much love being able to have visual access to my GMail and Reader new message counts, so I'm just going to have to deal with the 21MB Google Mail Checker and 41MB Google Reader Notifier suck up. And as much as I understand why, 29MB seems like a lot of memory for AdThwart.
dylanJan 25th 2010 6:27PM
The AddThis plugin uses no memory until you click the icon, and returns to using no memory when the menu disappears.
http://bit.ly/addthis-chrome
horsethiefbanditJan 25th 2010 9:04PM
What's the Firefox equivalent of Shft+Esc to view how much memory your extensions are using?
Michael FreemanJan 26th 2010 3:14AM
In my dev version of Chrome, every Userscript added is not converted automatically into an extension so I think we are all SOL unless someone can post a tip on how to disable that feature.
Lee MathewsJan 26th 2010 7:28AM
Michael- it doesn't actually "convert" the scripts into extensions...It just installs them in the same way.
Try it out and see - you shouldn't see any userscript names appear in the task manager!
Michael FreemanJan 26th 2010 9:03AM
Lee, your are right. I just double checked and no separate process was needed. I did notice that there is an actual memory difference in the tabs where the user scripts are running, but it is much less than actually running another process for each script.
Cheers.
Michael FreemanJan 26th 2010 7:26AM
I meant "is now converted" and not "is not converted"... quick typo.
dominicneagleJan 26th 2010 5:33AM
Version 4 is out of beta now. Go, go, go!