Interactive Llama

This isn’t about Chrome, for me it’s really about using a second browser. A second browser to only use for web applications. Honestly, I admit I haven’t been using Google Chrome for months now. I’ve been using Safari. It is my understanding that Google’s Chrome browser uses WebKit as it’s rendering engine with the advantage of starting each window/tab in a separate process (which Internet Explorer 8b2 also does) to increase stability. The general idea is if your Google Docs crashes, then your Gmail doesn’t crash–just how desktop applications work. Your web applications are sand-boxed and protected from other web pages. Safari/WebKit/Chrome: What’s the difference?

My secondary browser: Safari

For over six months now, I’ve been running my web applications in Safari on my Mac at work and my PC at home (yes, you did read that correctly, Mac at work and PC at home!). I run Gmail, GDocs, Remember The Milk, and others within Safari while I use FireFox to browse the web. I have keyboard shortcuts that run safari.exe/safari.app with the URL of the service I want to use. I can’t imagine browsing the web without Web Developer, FireBug, Google Toolbar, spell checking and RSS feeds of specific tags of my delicious bookmarks as a LiveBookmark. It would be as if I want back to using Internet Explorer or something.

When Safari for Windows became available in early 2008, I decided to try it. It was fast, but I hated the interface (especially the dimming of the page when you try to Find a word). The interface was too minimalistic. If I wanted less crap on my browser window, I’d hit F11, thank you very much. What’s a fast loading, standards compliant, minimal interface browser good for? You guessed it: WebApps! I use Safari for my web applications.

Water-logged about logging in

One of the annoying aspects of web applications is authentication, you have to login. Things become even more annoying if you use multiple accounts. Anyone have more one Gmail account? Thought so.

Everyday scenario: I log into my secondary Gmail account that I send my WordPress web sites 404 errors to and new mail pops up from Gmail Notifier in Growl. I click the email and it launches my “primary web browser.” In this case it’s FireFox, and I’m already logged into Gmail with my secondary account. What happens? FireFox goes to my seconfary account’s Inbox. I have to log out and re-login in order to view my new email! Using a second browser that is only logged into my primary account solves this probem.

Advantages of using a separate browser for web applications

• It’s sand-boxed: Your browsing of other pages won’t crash browser and thus deleted the email to your mother
• It’s fast: WebKit renders HTML faster than Gecko (Mozilla)
• You’re primary user account is not logged out, it is always there when you need it.

Shrugging Chrome

I shrugged when Google announces its Chrome browser this week, I’ve practically been using it for months now. However, I look forward to see where this goes and will value any increase in performance and productivity a Google browser will give me when using their web applications as well as others.