Why I Haven't Bothered with HTML 5 Much Yet

I'll let the pictures do the talking this time...

Winding Down, Weekend Brain Dump

Randomness ensues.

I taught a 2 hour session at work on COM scripting.  Everything from COM itself, to the DLL-ProgID-GUID-HKCR relationships to standard OOP stuff (classes, templates, properties, methods, all of it), and into invocation and interface processing.  Small group, so that went very well, and we had breathing room to explore questions, yet without falling off the wagon along the way.  It was good.

After that I taught another session on using a web application that I developed for a different (still small) group, which went very well.  I love face-to-face discussion.  Web/remote is ok.  Phone is lame.  E-mail is lame-er.

In that second session, I gathered more input for bug fixes, enhancements and new features in one hour than I received in months via web, email or phone.  Big corporate development teams:  You don't know what you're missing.  Focus groups are not the answer.  Direct, immediate, personal contact is the best.  It's the only real way to get quality input and have a quality, high-value discussion as well.

I switched the blog over to use the newest Blogger features with dynamic views, the new rendering layout, and the new analytics tools, and I have to say I absolutely LOVE it.  You might not be as impressed with the new look as I am, but behind the scenes, the administrative changes are fantastic.  Too nice to ignore, so I followed my typical "beta-tester" mentality and dove in head-first.  I am aware that the sidebar doesn't play well in Internet Explorer 9, but that's because IE9 doesn't handle HTML5 and CSS3 consistently with Chrome or Firefox (or Opera, I'm told).  I use IE9 and Chrome 16 at work about 50/50, but at home it's Chrome 16 100%.  I only fire up Firefox 7 to test page rendering and that's about it.  DISCLAIMER:  I'm not saying one browser is "better" than any other.  Everyone is free to like what they like.

I'm still a bit fried from three-plus hours of talking and pointing without a break.  I got home and hadn't eaten in six hours (not good, and not usual for me), and immediately gave into a cold glass of beer.  That wasn't a good idea either, but it seemed like it at the time.  Heh heh.

Still listening to Adam Carolla's podcast show every day.  Today he again brought up how suck-ass most 80's songs were, and I have to say that I now listen to them with new ears and most of them do in fact suck holy shit.  Not so much from a musical aspect, but lyrically they are bankrupt.  Those folks were not writing shit down back then, they were winging it and most of it sounds like a recorder was left on during a Narcotics Anonymous session.

Randomness ensues.  Enjoy your weekend!

What I've Accomplished This Week

• Packaged Office 2010 using OCT and Config.XML modification to deploy with SCCM
• Wrote scripts to customize MED-V client deployments via SCCM
• Wrote scripts to customize MED-V client workspace management features
• Worked on integrating SCCM with a web interface and SQL
• Installed and testing IE9 RC, Chrome 11, and Firefox 4
• Testing the IE9 Developer Tool (F12) Network Trace toolset (very nice!)
• Updated my Google Chromebook CR-48 to the Dev Channel (0.10.x)
• Finished reading a few books:
• Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol"
• Laura Hilldebrand's "Unbroken" (very good!)
• Started reading "The Accidental Billionaires"
• Reading samples of several books to decide on which to buy next:
• Don Rumsfeld: "Known and Unknown"
• Dan Brown: "Digital Fortress"
• a few others
• Watched "The Town"
• Ironed four shirts
• Polished one pair of brown shoes
• Ran my first full mile, without a break, since I was in my 20's - just last night!

Bugs/Annoyances: TurboTax Online

See if you can spot the contradictory information between these two screen shots?  The first one is what I saw when logging into TurboTax using Google Chrome 9.  The second is what I got when logging into the same site with Microsoft IE 9.  Forget the "Google Chrome 4" mess.  This is kind of funny to me anyway.

MS IE9 Compatability Mode

Just a scratch note regarding the “user agent” string impact when toggling the page compatability mode using IE9…

Compatability Mode: Disabled

Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)

Compatability Mode: Enabled

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; InfoPath.3; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E)

The “WOW64” indicates 64-bit Windows.  “Windows NT 6.1” denotes Windows 7. I’m not sure what “SLCC2” means, but the .NET CLR and Media Center chunks should be obvious.  Hmm.

Detect Windows 7 Users from Web Site

I had to tinker with this for two separate projects, so hopefully it’s of use to someone else.  Not really rocket science, but then again: web pages are never rocket science are they?

PHP code

function isWin7() {
	if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'Windows NT 6.1') == true) {
		return true;
	}
	return false;
}

ASP code

Function isWin7() {
	If InStr(Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT"),"Windows NT 6.1") > 0 Then
		isWin7 = True
	End If
End Function

IE9 vs Chrome: In my own words

They're getting very close in many ways, but after having been a die-hard Chrome user for several years, here's what I miss in IE9:

• Right-click "Paste and Go" in search boxes
• Right-click “Inspect element”
• Integration with Google Voice (hey, I use it a lot)
• The logic behind the new tab suggestions list doesn't jive with my "most used" and "most recent" sites for some reason (same on all four computers I've been using it on)
• Many sites, even parts of Facebook, use outdated CSS forks that look for "IE" and not versions, so they break rendering expecting IE6 or 7.  The "Write a Note" feature for example doesn't work properly until you click "Compatibility Mode" and refresh.  I'm sure it will get fixed as the beta runs along.
• As for the new tab suggestions, I prefer thumbnails over big icons. Just sayin’
• The taskbar “pinning” feature is nice, but hardly “new” since other apps (yes, even Chrome) have done that for a while already.

But... I really like the new UI overall. The new downloads management feature is great.  The "less is more" UX is borrowed from Webkit (Chrome, and Safari, sort of) but overdue.  The speed is much better than IE7 or IE8 and on par with Chrome 6.x and FF4.  I'd like to see customizable right-click features (a la Windows "Send To" and task bar pinning API's) but those too may be forthcoming.  The add-on “accelerators” are becoming very useful, finally. Akin to Google Chrome’s “extensions” (which they borrowed from Firefox), they allow you to extend and customize the browser.

I have to admit I’ve always liked IE’s options features.  That sounds redundant.  Hmmm..  But the “less-is-more” stuff is only viable for the main interface.  When it comes to configuring things, I like shitloads of buttons, checkboxes, listboxes, sliders, spinners, bells and whistles.  That’s just me.  I mean, really, if you poke your head into the flight cabin of your next airplane ride and it looks like an iPod (one button) wouldn’t feel a bit uncomfortable?  We all feel better seeing that massive field of buttons, dials and knobs and levers.  It conveys “control”.  That’s what an “options” console should convey also.  Just sayin’.

One thing that Chrome annoys me with is when I right-click and press “R” expecting “Refresh” (yes, I know about F5), while it works in IE, it means “Print” in Chrome.  Doh!

Facebook Changes

I've been studying for about 10 hours and need a break, so I'm venting...

The new Facebook UI released today is getting some mixed reviews. I personally love it. It's about damn time they cleaned up the crap. It's funny that so many have gotten so used to the absolute horrible mess it had become that they now complain when it's cleaned up. Having worked on software development and UX projects for many years, I can sympathize. But I'd rather digress. Shall we? Let's!

Well, there were at least three ways to get to your "Friends". You had to dive into your personal Profile to get to your list of Groups. There was the "Home" link and your "Name" link. They had Live and News feed. The Inbox was barely noticeable and buried. The Search box was ignored. The Photo uploader sucked ass (pardon my French), and, well, I could go on.

When I joined five years ago, it was clean and simple. Cleaner and simpler than it is now actually. Most people liked it. But it wasn't "MySpace" enough, so they started bloating it with garbage (games, surveys, polls, fan pages, ads, ads, ads, and more ads) and then to fix the problem of it being too easy to get around, they started shuffling things around into a shell game.

Is it perfect now? No. There are still bugs. Facebook is aware of them, but they've pushed them down to lower priority for now. Hopefully they will get them fixed. One of them is the chat list, which loves to drop out categories without reason and to get them back you have to un-check and re-check them again. And there are still annoying AJAX problems (caused by clicking too fast usually), and the new Messages link (while a bit hard to see when nothing new is waiting) would be nice if it had little "x" links in the drop-down to delete the message right there (rather than having to go into the Inbox to do that).

I also bounce between IE, Firefox and Chrome (mostly Chrome though) and it's nice that as of Monday they finally fixed a problem with their new image uploader AJAX app. There were problems in IE8 and non-trusted zone settings also, but that appears to be fixed now. All in all: better.

Remember: "Software" contains "soft", which was the intent. Babbage (the guy credited with inventing the idea behind software in the first place) insisted that computer functionality should be easy to upgrade or modify without hardware changes. It's supposed to change. It will always change. Sometimes better, sometimes not. And it will NEVER make everyone happy. There isn't a software product on Earth that EVERYONE loves. But I'm glad they're trying. If you really sit and compare the mess Facebook was devolving into over the past two years alone, the latest change is a HUGE improvement in almost every respect.

Ok, good. Venting over. Back to exam studies. Unplugging...

Is Microsoft Imploding?

My brothers sent me (separately) links to the recent NYT article by Dick Brass on the demise of Microsoft at their own hand.  It’s titled “Microsoft’s Creative Destruction”.  My first reply was kind of errantly focused on the broader issues of Apple and Google and whether Microsoft really figures into that triad of triviality.  Whatever that means.

My second reply came after a few more re-readings…

“Ok, after a second, and indeed a third reading of this article, I wanted to address it from his same point of view:

He's correct.

From what I gather from talking with the few I know who work there, or used to work there, there are bright spots within the company: The System Center division is producing remarkable products and gaining not only accolades but marketshare.  Office 2010 is already garnering praise in ways similar to Windows 7.

One of the blogs I follow daily is that of "Mini-Microsoft".  An (supposedly) unidentified "insider" who has become widely recognized as the internal voice of "what's wrong" within the inerds.  Even MS execs cite his posts often (there's even a Channel 9 video interview with Lisa Brummel, Microsoft's VP of Human Resources which focuses almost entirely on Mini's complaints and suggestions).

The company is fucking huge. Too huge.  It's like GM.  World-wide, multi-cultural and multi-language.  I have no idea how anyone could effectively manage a project which is literally parsed out around the globe like Windows and Office are.  It reminds me of the overwhelming complexity of designing and building an aircraft carrier.  It's just magic I suppose.  I may never understand how it works.

I agree with his overall take and that it's a big question mark.  Most would agree that one of their biggest faults is that they're easily distracted by irrelevant markets and deluded into believing they become threatening “competition”.  Markets like mobile media players, game consoles, web browsers, search services, and mobile operating systems.  They chase the wrong vermin.  It wastes their time, energy and budgets and makes them look oafish in the end.

As a comparison however, Apple has had their share of problems and problem decisions.  They are executing fairly well overall, but lately they too seem to be wavering a bit.  Ironically, the iPad is a good example mainly because there was almost nothing announced that wasn't anticipated.  That's a subtle but significant "first" for Apple in over a decade.  The iPad should've blown people away.  Instead it was just "pretty cool".  I don't know anyone, Apple enthusiast or not, who is saying "I have GOT to get one of those!"  Not like they did with the iPod Touch or the iPhone.  Even Macbook's got more excitement buzzing from their launch than this.  And like I said before: the design is shockingly un-exciting for an Apple "first".  It's just, well, Microsoft-ish.

A lot of buzz is coming out of Google that they too are facing a point of inflection.  They've grown in size to rival early Microsoft.  Shear number of employees, global dispersion (time zones, languages, cultures), and now they're starting to feel the gradual tug of market gravity as they fall into a (for now) tiff with Apple in both the phone and tablet markets.  Did you notice that within 24 hours of Jobs making his recent "Google is evil" comment that Google unlocked the multi-touch feature on the Nexus phone?  It was sure talked about in the tech community.  They've already been showing off their Chrome OS tablet with multi-touch as well.  Schmidt and Jobs are shaping up to be quite a pair.  All they need is TMZ following them around and it will be great ratings fodder.

But, the issue there is that Google is starting to chase side markets.  Remember, they get almost 99 percent of their revenue from advertising.  Everything else is given out "free" or laced with ads.  It's a smart approach, but only while the game rules are like they are now.  Things will change of course.

And what will happen to Apple when Jobs departs (or passes on)?  There really isn't anyone else with the same charisma, command and confidence to instill a sense of a bold future beyond that.  Schiller? Oppenheimer?  Cook?  Serlet?  Tammadon?  I don't think so.

It seems to be shaping up like Gates handing the baton to Ballmer.  What a mess.

So, back to the path:  Yes, Microsoft has dealt themselves some pretty horrific blows over the years.  He didn't even touch on the NetDocs vs Office battle that raged for years.  That was infamous.  They're still blowing their own heads off in the Windows Mobile space (WM 7 has been promised and delayed for years.  Still not certain).  They shot from the hip with Windows Home Server, which is an amazing product, released with almost no meaningful official "push", more of a small-team grass-roots effort.  But the only partners they could rustle up were Toshiba and HP and only HP is making any profit.  They're still scoffing at Netbooks and gave up on Tablets (like he mentioned).  And they've taken way too long to counter Google Docs.  However, Google has remained silent on a counter to Microsoft's SkyDrive, which blows my f**king mind to Jupiter how they could have missed that obvious opportunity.  Microsoft actually has multiple, including Live Mesh.  Another example of a multi-headed beast marching in twenty directions at once.

I could go on and on, but for every goof they've made, they've somehow managed to crank out an equal success,even if small.  I think that's how they've managed to hold on.  That and the fact that they've won over IT geeks for years with their focus and attention on the plumbing technologies like COM, WMI, SNMP, LDAP, .NET, RPC, WinRM, WPF and so on.  They are the absolute king of API's and documentation. They know how to make building blocks that stick together like Lego's.  That is like heroin for enterprise IT admins and corporate developers. Actually, more like crack.  IBM ignored that too long and lost the game.  Apple ignores it.  Google sees that but is only building the kits for use outside the corporate space, which is a gamble.  Time will tell.

Footnotes:

XBox comment – Yes, it’s a worthy component of their consumer base.  But it’s widely believed to be a break-even prospect for them internally.  Even their relationship with Bungee has been someone unclear at times.

WHS comment – The storage problem early on highlighted a disparity between the WHS group and other groups dealing with storage.  The lack of partner product momentum at the outset was an indication of initial uncertainty, when it should have been more prominent and visible.

Plumbing technologies comment – Yes, I know they didn’t invent many of those mentioned, but they did exert incredible effort in tying them into their products across multiple divisions no less.  And the efforts of TechNet and MSDN are no less than amazing in their own rite.

Google – I didn’t really dive into the fact that they too have bought into their share of empowerment without building it themselves.  YouTube is a great example.  Orkut however is a horrible example.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Google Chrome Pinned Tabs Feature

Google’s ChromeOS has a really nice feature for making pinned tabs permanent, so that each time you fire it up your favorite pinned tabs remain, well, pinned.  This isn’t available within the Chrome 4.x web browser yet, at least not within the UI, but it is available via the command line.  So this means you can modify your Chrome shortcut to launch with a predefined set of tabs already pinned.  Thanks to “Randald” posting on LifeHacker for this tip by the way!

1. Right-click the Chrome shortcut, and click Properties
2. Modify the launch “Target” to append “ --pinned-tab-count=X” (where “X” is the number of URL tabs you want to open and have pinned)  The format is as follows:
   
   …chrome.exe --pinned-tab-count=X <url> <url> <url>…
   
3. Be sure to use 2 dashes in front of the “pinned-tab-count=” parameter.
4. Click OK.  Then launch the shortcut

An example of how this would look with 2 URL tabs pinned: Gmail and Google Wave…

…chrome.exe --pinned-tab-count=2 http://gmail.com http://wave.google.com

Windows 7 tip:

If you have Chrome pinned on your Task bar, when you right-click it opens the “jump list” by default.  To access the actual shortcut “properties” option, simply right-click on the jump list entry for “Google Chrome” near the bottom, and click on the “Properties” item on the pop-up list.

How Microsoft Can Get Customers to Upgrade IE

Lot's of talk about how Microsoft continues to walk an ever-narrowing fine line between supporting legacy crap and trying to move "forward" at the same time.  One of the issues commonly cited is how to handle sluggish corporate customers, who resist moving off of IE6.  Most corporate environments are driven by bottom line issues.  Things like deployment and support costs, interruptions, and security vulnerability derivatives.  The former two can be addressed by the usual slathering of corporate marketing schmooze and goo.  The last item, security, can be hit on the head like a hammer on a nail:  Drop support for IE6 entirely.  Tell customers: "Too bad.  If you want patches and security updates, upgrade to the current version."  End of story.  Sure, they'll bitch.  They'll moan.  But they'll move.  What's funny is that I would bet the GDP of Zimbabwe that if Apple told customers the same thing for one of their products, oh wait, they already have.  Well, never mind then.

Catching Up

I've been unplugged in most respects for a few days, so it's nice to get caught up a bit.

It's been raining felines and canines for days now and I'm ready for some sunshine and heat to make a comeback. My bike riding regimen has been on hold since last weekend, which is making me antsy and cranky.

I've been running Google Chrome version 4.0.203.2 for a few days and so far I'm very impressed. The speed is just incredible. The features are starting to mature, but at a comfortable pace. Not as flashy as Safari 4, but more stable and less claustrophobic.

Work has been busy and varied. Bouncing between Wise scripting, VBscript, ASP (a flavor thereof) and SQL expression coding. Toss in a pinch of Javascript, XML, CSS and DOM and about 3 cups of crappy coffee per 8 hours, 2 cups of water, and 3 trail mix bars, blend on high speed until puree and ta-da!

I'm synching my iPod up to get my podcasts: Adam Carolla, Car Cast, No Agenda, Tech 5, Cranky Geeks, and Windows Weekly. Those keep me entertained and informed during my daily commute to and from work. Speaking of which, today's commute took 1 hour 50 minutes to get home. Our transit "system" here is bullshit. Pure bullshit. Oh...

Yesterday, I ran over to Princess Anne High School to sit in on a HRT/HDR/Virginia Beach "transit extension alternative assessment meeting". It was bullshit. Lots of posturing, blabbering and handshaking with ZERO action promised. I might blog about that if I feel up to it.

Coding and Coding and Formatting and Formatting

It's be a ssssslow day and my brain cells are dissolving while typing this muck into my writer. By the way, I've been switching between browsers and writers trying to find the optimal combination to post reliably and most importantly: predictably. I mean that with respect to code formatting. It's not as simple as you might think. Typing code into IE7 or IE8 is one thing. Typing into Firefox 3.5, or Chrome 1.x or 2.x is another. And using writers like Windows Live Writer, which is very cool, seem to have some issues with content formatting as well.

For example, when typing into Chrome, if you switch modes from "Compose" to "Edit Html", all is good. But as soon as you switch back and make ANY changes, and switch back to HTML view, you will see that it stuffs bloated <apple-span-style> tags all over the place. Like a full-size Canadian Goose on laxatives wandering around your front porch. Just pure crap bloating. Not as bloated and horrific as editing HTML with Microsoft Word, but certainly below my standards. And let me tell you: I have some of the lowest standards known to mankind. If anything fails MY standards, it ain't fit for use by terrorists.

By the way, the <apple-span-style> tag issue has nothing to do with Apple. I'm using Chrome on Windows 7 computers only. I don't have any Macs in my house. It seems to be some weird issue with WebKit, but how it gets from WebKit to Google and has "Apple" buried inside is beyond me. But I keep reading stories about the FTC or SEC or BMF investigating the two over collusion or delusion or infusion or whatever. Who cares. Whatever. So, where was I? ummmm.... uh.... (cough)... oh yeah!

I forgot.

Windows 7 Achillies Heal: IE8

First of all, I'm very impressed overall with Windows 7. It is a huge improvement over Vista and definitely over XP. Everything you read about it is true: faster, cleaner, leaner, stable-er, and so on. But WTF is with IE8?

It seems the IE team is working inside a vacuum. Even a casual look around would make that obvious. Rather than designing v8 to address comeptition, they're choosing a myopic comparison with IE7. Maybe looking at Firefox. But this is 2009. Think about that when you open IE8 next time (if you ever do). In 2009: is that the best UI they can design for a browser? Seriously?

This is probably THE one place they could have put some careful, innovative UI design effort and produced a meaningful impression that Windows 7 is more than just a "Vista 2" update. In most respects, Windows 7 appears to be just that, which is very misleading. But what I'm talking about here is making IE8 *only* for Windows 7. Why bother back-porting it? There is no business case for building a version for XP. Can anyone explain a clear business case for back-porting it? I can't think os a single one. It just seems dumb to me.

My Chrome 2.0 Wish list

Chrome 2.0 is ok. Nothing blows my socks off. More like a set of tiny tweaks. The full list is here.

1. An option to control handling of "mailto" tags. For example, invoke Gmail.

2. Right-click on a hyperlink or selecting the address bar content, and have a pop-up option to convert to Tiny URL -> Clipboard.

3. A built-in Google Toolbar, tailored for Chrome (minimalist version)

4. An option to explicitly remove an item from the New Tab page (history suggestion)

Google Chrome MAILTO fix for GMail on Windows Vista

Thanks to safekerala for posting a comment on my previous post about Chrome.  He pointed me to Brendan Nee's blog post about how to set Chrome to use GMail for MAILTO tags.  The problem is that only works for Windows XP, so I set out to make it work on Windows Vista.  Here's what you do...

1. Open REGEDIT
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WindowsMail.Url.Mailto
3. Click on EXPORT and save a backup of this key first!
4. Edit the value FriendlyTypeName, replace with the following:

"C:\Users\_username_\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe -app=https://mail.google.com/mail?extsrc=mailto&url=%1"

Important: Be sure to replace _username_ with your actual username.  Remember that if you have a domain user account, rather than a workgroup account, you should use the exact profile path, which likely includes the domain, such as "Dave.MyDomain", etc.

Now whenever I click on a mailto: tag in a web page, it launches Chrome and goes directly to the Compose Message form.  Very nice indeed.

Chrome: Additional Thoughts

Ok, I'm officially in love with Chrome now.  So are my kids.  My wife hates anything that even smells like "change" on her desktop, but even she is getting to like it now.

I have noticed two interesting characteristics about Chrome, at least in the current "beta" build:

1. It does not offer a Gmail link feature like you get with the Google Toolbar in Firefox.  You know, when you click on a "mailto:" tag and you can have it open Gmail to compose the email, rather than letting Windows launch the default mail application (Windows Mail, Outlook Express, etc).  There's also no option to control form auto-fill, nor a built-in spell-checker with dictionary management.

2. The installation is PER USER, not per machine.  I've only encountered this on my one XP desktop.  I installed it under my login, with local admin rights.  My son also has local admin rights, but there's NO TRACE of it anywhere on his profile.  I can't even make a shortcut for it, because the executable resides under MY profile folder tree only.  It does not install under ProgramFiles.  I have to re-install it for each user.  While this is good for circumventing Windows Vista's UAC protection, it's also a bit of a pain.

Third Look: Google Chrome

I'm man enough to eat my own words.  Some will never do that.  Yes, I'm patting myself on the back for what is essentially a non-virtue, but whatever, 2008 has sucked so badly that I'll enjoy smelling the air as if it were my last breath.  And it's something I can still afford.

Anyhow, Google Chrome:  Fantastic

Minimal - yes.  Simplistic - arguable.  Feature-rich:  Hmmm.

Previously, I said it was lacking in "options" to tweak.  But the options should be exchanged for features in my opinion.  I have to split my view of things into two basic camps: user/usability and enterprise management.  

I judge a product first by it's end-user usability traits.  How does it work.  How does it feel.  Where are the pain points.  How stable is it.  And so forth.   If the product could fit into an enterprise environment, you know, those places where things are "deployed", implying large scale or numbers of endpoints for installation, then I heap on a second pile of aspects to judge it on.  Can it be packaged.  Can options be pre-configured (before end-user deployment).  Can it be silently installed.  Does it have pre-requisite needs.  Does it create compatability issues or conflicts.  Does it work reliably on XP and Vista.  And so forth.

I can't speak to the enterprise management aspects at this point, because I haven't had the need or opportunity to put it into that sort of environment.  However, from the user/usability side of things, it simply rocks.  But what makes it shine (to me anyway) are it's small features that pop out when you don't expect them.

Some examples:

• When you open a new tab and start typing in a URL, it automatically starts narrowing down the selection "suggestions" in the same manner it does for searches when you use the Google Toolbar for Firefox.  Very handy indeed.

• When you open a new tab the default (blank) window is actually not "blank" but filled with thumbnails of previously visited web sites.  Just click and open.

• Rendering of pages is significantly faster than IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Opera 9 or Safari.  Not just a little, but a lot faster.  It reminds of when Mozilla was first playing with the Gecko rendering engine in a stripped-down test browser.  Then they piled on too much eye-candy and it slowed it down too much, so they renamed it Firefox.  (It's all subjective of course, since FF3 is still faster than IE7 and about equal with IE8 from my experiences, but Chrome is faster than that)

• The top-side tabs actually are easier to use.  For such a trivial modification to "standard" UI design, they actually make it easier to visually scan the tabs and what sites are open.

• Highlight some text in a web page and right-click on it.  Not much to choose from at this point, but there is "Search Google for '------'" and it works very well.

• The "Remember Password" feature works as well as it does in Firefox 2 and 3.  And the installation "import" process grabbed my Firefox password cache so it was ready to rock immediately (the import Favorites from IE feature did not work on any of my test machines by the way).

There are some quirks which might be "bugs" but I can't definitively categorize them as such just yet.  I have to get used to its behaviors first.   But so far, my kids really like it, and my wife really likes it (mainly because (a) it looks like Firefox and (b) it's faster).  Obviously, that's not a scientific metric, but it works for me.

Second Look: Google Chrome

At first I scoffed.  Boy, did I scoff.  I uber-scoffed.  But I've always been a bleeding edge software guy.  I like to dive in early and feel the stinging burn of progress smack me in the forehead.  Thankfully there's virtualization to help ease the pain.  It's my Aloe Vera for the sunburn of crashing alpha and beta products.

Google Chrome really isn't bad.  It renders pretty well actually.  Better than IE8 in native mode for sure.  And it hasn't crashed on me at all (yet).  IE8 Beta 2 was locking up so bad on me that I had to roll back to IE7 (physical box, not a virtual).  Some apps just dont' get their due justice in a virtual environment because there's the tendency to only work part-time in the VM and full time (or more time) in the physical environment.  I have no idea why, but it happens that way very often.  If you run normally inside a VM then forget all that.

First off, there's already enough reviews being posted about Chrome, so I'm not going to slice and dice what it does.  Check out Paul Thurrott's site for more insight on Chrome.  I will say that it's very basic and early in the development.  There are hardly ANY options to tweak at this point.  It's much cleaner with respect to the UI than Firefox 3 and cleaner than IE8 for sure.  The performance is great, renderings are very fast.  No layout quirks so far and I've used it on LinkedIn, Blogger, Hotmail, Microsoft Careers (oops, did I say that?), Yahoo News, Google Reader and Gmail (of course), and Microsoft's Clip Gallery Live.  No problems at all.  Even IE8 won't handle all of those properly (in native mode).  Google Reader won't even work correctly in IE8 when using Compatability View mode.

I'll stick with this for a while longer and see how it goes.