Google Chrome for Mac Review

So Google just launched Chrome for Mac. I've been very excited for this day and have been waiting for it for a long time. I headed over and downloaded the Beta.

Installed and launched. It's fast. I'd dare say it's faster than Safari, which is quite an accomplishment. The first page that displayed was Google's home page. It prompted me to install Chrome, which I thought was quite amusing.

When launched, it prompted me to import my bookmarks with the available options being Safari and Firefox. I'm mildly disappointed it didn't include Camino and Opera, both of which I also have installed. I choose Firefox and it imported the bookmarks without a hitch. The bookmark hierarchy is slightly different that what I'm used to with Camino with the "Bookmark Bar" bookmarks being in the Bookmarks menu and the rest being under "Other Bookmarks" in the menu.

First site I tried loading was Facebook, which wouldn't load until I quit and launched again. Sites like Digg and Reddit loaded without issue and faster than usual.

The Mac version of Chrome is fully compatible with the existing Themes gallery and I installed Chuck Anderson's theme without a hitch. You can find him on Twitter @nopattern .

Browsing is a brease. Pages usually load fast and scrolling is smooth, even with YouTube/flash videos. As expected, Chrome passes the Acid2 and Acid3 tests (consistant 99/100 or 100/100) and doesn't seem to have any issues displaying any websites I've visited. The separate incognito windows are nice, opening new tabs are smooth (rising/falling animations are a nice touch), opening tabs in the next space instead of at the end of the line is convenient, and so far, Chrome has stayed very responsive through my browsing experience.

Overall, I highly suggest it and it may very well become my default browser.

Note: MavRev was in no way paid for this review.