Google Chrome 14

Pros

Super-fast JavaScript performance. Excellent security through sandboxing and malware warnings. Instant site prediction and loading. Easy installation. Excellent tab implementation. Extensions for customization. Bookmark and preference syncing. Tab process isolation. Strong support for HTML 5. Built-in Flash player and PDF reader.

Cons

No built-in "do not track" feature. Still some occasional minor site incompatibilities.

Bottom Line

Chrome Instant means your Web page is ready to read before you finish typing the address. This, its speed, minimalist design, and advanced support for HTML5 have been attracting more and more users to the browser. New for version 14: Native Code, Audio API support, and Mac OS X Lion compatibility.

Google Chrome 14

Google Chrome 14 adds Native Client and Audio API support to the speedy browser. 

Chrome 14 on Mac OS X Lion: Scrollbar

On Mac OS X Lion, Chrome 14 uses the OS's hidden scrollbars, which only appear when you're scrolling. Also note the full-screen icon at top right. 

Full Screen on Mac OS X Lion

Chrome 14 implements Lion's full screen operation.

Presentation View

Presentation View is fullscreen, though with the browser's menu still showing at the top. 

Print Preview

Chrome 13 adds print preview—finally—that makes use of the browser's built-in PDF viewer. 

New Options Page

Chrome's settings now appear in Web-page format, and you can search within the Basics, Persional Stuff, and Under the Hood sections. You can even copy and paste the URL from the address bar to get right to a settings page or send it to a friend.

Enable Chrome Instant

When you enable Google Chrome Instant, your page will load even before you finish typing its address if you've visited it before. 

Chrome Web Store

The new tab page in the Chrome browser now shows Google Web Store of Web apps. 

Google WebGL Experiments

Google has posted some experiments that show off its hardware acceleration of WebGL content. The technique isn't widely used, and Chrome has some catching up to do with IE9's more widespread hardware acceleration.

Chrome's Built-In PDF Reader

Chrome includes a built-in PDF reader, saving you from having to install a plug-in either from Adobe or a third-party software maker like Foxit or Sumatra. Note the intuitive toolbar, which only shows when your mouse cursor is in the southeast vicinity of the browser window. From this, you can have the document fill the width of the window, show a full page, or zoom in and out. By default, you can select text for cutting and pasting, but I couldn’t copy and paste images. 

Menu

From the single wrench button, you choose options from this flyout menu structure, reminiscent of the days of Windows XP. From two levels down off the Tools submenu you get access to Extensions and clearing browser data. But you probably won’t be using these that often. 

Bookmark Manager

As with most of Chrome’s features, the bookmark manager appears as a web page, rather than in a separate window. You can import bookmarks from other common browsers, and create subfolders. Note that you can have the bookmark bar always showing below the address bar, and it shows up on the new tab page automatically. 

Download Manager

The download manager also uses the web page area rather than a dedicated window. 

Security in the Address Bar

Chrome shows information on a sites security and identity with a click on the icon next to the URL. 

Install Extension

The privacy concerns are shown when you go to install an extension. 

Installed Extension

Most extensions use a small icon to the right of the address/search bar for accessing their features. 

Extension Manager

You can run extensions in "incognito" mode for extra privacy.

Set Up Syncing in Chrome

From the Options menu, you can set up syncing of bookmarks and settings by logging into a Gmail or Google account. 

Geolocation

Chrome implements HTML5 Geolocation.