Its taken a while, but the Linux version of Google’s Chrome is really starting to catch up with its Windows counterpart, both in terms of features and stability.

I have been using the dev releases of Chrome for a while now and recently I have been able to make the switch to using it as my default channel. In fact, I haven’t used Firefox in weeks!

Getting the web browser is easy if you are using a Debian based distribution, such as Ubuntu. Simply download the package from the Chromium website and the package manager will do the rest. Not only will it install the browser, it will also add the Google repository so you are kept up to date.

Most of the features that you would expect from a web browser are now complete, including Flash support. Extensions are also now available, although not yet completely implemented on Linux. One of the main features that you might miss is printing, so keep another browser available.

I have made the move to using Chrome as my default browser on Linux mainly because Firefox 3 is just so slow, and not just at the rendering of pages. On my desktop, start up takes upwards of 10 seconds. Chrome doesn’t take more than 3.

Where Chrome really shines is on my netbook. Once Firefox loads, it can only handle around 4 tabs before it really starts to feel sluggish, and GMail is just unusable. Chrome does not have these problems. I can have half a dozen tabs open, including GMail, and my netbook is still just as responsive.

Of course, it is still an early release, so there is the odd problem. I have noticed once or twice that Chrome can eat up the CPU, and playing a Flash video can sometimes be a bit flaky. But these happen rarely, and even with this I already feel that Chrome is the best web browser available on Linux.

The interface is very plain, which at first thought makes it a bit rubbish. Then I remembered that Firefox has a feature that allows it to open bookmarks in the sidebar, rather than the main window. While not very useful for most sites, the interface for Gmail Tasks is so minimalist that it works great in a sidebar.

To load the bookmark in the sidebar firstly save it as a regular bookmark. Once its saved find it in the menu and after right-clicking on it choose Properties from the menu. Then simply check the box marked Load in the sidebar, as shown below.

Click here to view how the bookmark looks when loaded in the sidebar.

Firecooke is an extension for Firebug and is written by Jan Odvarko, who is also a full time contributor to Firebug. Among other things it allows you to:

• Browse and inspect cookies
• Add, edit or delete cookies
• Log cookie events

Screenshot taken from http://www.softwareishard.com/blog/firecookie/.

I love the way it plugs into Firebug and it provides all the functionality I needed (plus a bit more). For more information about Firecookie check out its homepage.

Incidentally working with cookies in JavaScript is fairly easy. For a good overview take a look at the articles by PPK over at QuirksMode and by Nicholas C. Zakas, or use a JavaScript library such as YUI or jQuery.

References

1. http://mashable.com/2008/11/11/firefox-extensions-for-managing-cookies/