Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on September 24, 2008 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

Google Chrome has taken the browser market by storm ever since its release a few weeks ago. The only complaint that I’ve really heard about the browser is that it doesn’t support add-ons like Firefox does, but Google has already said that a future version will be covering those bases. It’s already been downloaded over 2 million times, and that number is destined to grow very rapidly once developers are able to create add-ons for it.

If you’ve decided to stick it out with Chrome then we’ve got a few tips and tricks for you that we’ve come across over the last few weeks.

–Keyboard Shortcuts–

Keyboard shortcuts can really help make you more productive when using a web browser, and as expected Google Chrome has plenty of them for you to learn. A full list of keyboard shortcuts can be found here, but these are a few handy ones:

• Ctrl+[1-8]: Switches to the tab in that position on your tab bar
• Shift+Esc: Opens the browser’s task manager
• Ctrl+Shift+N: Opens an incognito window that can be used for private browsing

–About Pages–

Google Chrome has several different “about” pages that can be used to access various information. For example, entering about:memory in the address bar will show you a list of running browsers along with how much memory each one is using.

One of the really interesting pages is about:stats that will show you a list of timers and counters used by the browser. It tracks things like how long it takes (in milliseconds) for your browser window to close, the load time of Google Gears, and more. Google OS has a more comprehensive list of the “about” pages available in Google Chrome.

–More Address Bar Results–

Not seeing enough results in the address bar? The browser should probably offer some simple configuration option for users to adjust this, but it doesn’t. Instead you need to modify the desktop shortcut in order to get more results. Once you open up the properties of the shortcut you’ll want to place this on the end of the “target” field:

-omnibox-popup-count=10

The How-to Geek has more detailed instructions on how to do this.

–Change the User Agent–

Doing something as simple as changing the user agent should be a no-brainer in Chrome, but Google wanted to make it a challenge. As Digital Inspiration points out it is very much possible to do, but will require that you use a HEX editor to modify a DLL.

–Backup & Restore a Profile–

Backing up your Google Chrome profile can easily be done by digging into some folders on your computer, but there’s an easier solution. The free Google Chrome Profile Backup app will let you backup and restore Google Chrome profiles as much as you want. It even comes with a nice profile manager so that storing several different profiles is a painless process.

–Portable Google Chrome–

Take the browser with you on a USB drive by downloading this special package that has been put together by a third-party. All of your settings will be stored within a single folder so that you don’t need to worry about your browsing history getting left behind on a different computer.

–Run Google Chrome on Mac or Linux–

I’m sure you’re aware that Google has yet to release a version of Chrome that runs on an operating system other than Windows. CrossOver, the creators of Wine, have taken it upon themselves to bring over the Windows version to other operating systems. There are still some quirks to using this method, like not being able to auto-update the browser, but it works pretty well.

–Make Firefox Look Like Google Chrome–

Do you like the looks of Google Chrome, but don’t want to give up some of your favorite Firefox extensions? This Google Chrome theme for Firefox looks great on all operating systems, and might be just enough for those of you who like Chrome’s appearance.

–Overview–

About 4% of our readers are using Google Chrome, and so I’m sure you’ve come up with your own tips and tricks to make the browser even better. Feel free to share your own tips in the comments, and also let us know what’s keeping you using Chrome.

Thanks to everyone who sent in tips!

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