Google Chrome 15.0

Google Chrome is a very lightweight and easy-to-use open source Web browser by Google Inc. It was first released as a beta version on September 2, 2008 for the Windows platform.

In December 2009 it was ported on Mac, and today is the most dynamically growing web-browser by the usage share worldwide. In absolute values Google Chrome is the second most used web-browser worldwide and the most used one in South America.

Chrome's popularity is accounted for its distinctive sleekness and high usability. Unlike the other browsers, it does not offer loads of incomprehensible tabs and bars, with the basic UI reduced to four buttons (back, forward, review/cancel, menu) and the Omnibox (the URL line on top of the page). Quite amazingly, these interface elements provide the user with almost the same functionality as Firefox or Opera, bloating with numerous menus and buttons. In order to achieve exactly the same level of functionality, you can use 'advanced features' of Chrome, like numerous add-ons or bookmarks. The entire browsing 'machinery', like the download page or the browsing history, are neatly packed in the single pull-down menu in the upper right corner of the browser window. In case you need even 'more advanced' features, like proxy settings, choose the Preference option in the menu and you'll get to a sleekly designed setting window.
Another reason for such a rapid increase in Chrome's popularity is that the application treats all its tabs separately. It means that if one of them crashes it does not immediately lead to the crash of the whole app. This feature proves to be very useful, especially when you work with many tabs: it is always a nuisance to wait for them being reloaded after re-launching the crashed Safari or Opera.

Perhaps, it is this feature that is to blame for Chrome's high memory usage on Mac. According to the latest efficiency benchmarks show that with 40 opened tabs the Google browser requires the stupefying 1.8 Gb of memory, which is two and a half times more than the values for Safari. Even the single opened tab uses in Chrome about 50 Mb of memory more than Safari.

However, the high memory usage seems to be the biggest con in Google Chrome, which in almost all other respects works almost impeccably. I would recommend this browser for everybody who prefers sleek and easy-to-use software.