Looking to expand to have an even bigger footprint on the internet, Google, the search engine we all know and love, has released a new browser known as Chrome (beta). It’s neat, it’s new, it’s shiny (just like it’s name) but does it offer any advantages over the IE8 (beta) or Firefox 3?

Despite it’s name, the actual Chrome interface is surprisingly not shiny. You might expect something with a lot more silver and smooth curves, considering the name, but the standard light-blue-and-white is at least functional and simple. In fact, that pretty much describes Chrome, functional and simple. It doesn’t have a lot of add-ons, or fancy applications, or anything along those lines (which is slightly dissappointing). It’s also optimized to run Javascript so that GoogleDocs and GMail run faster.

IE8 (beta) is, however, a hulking resource behemoth that is loaded down heavily with add-ons and features which no one even knows about, much less uses. Like much of the software Microsoft has put out, IE8 suffers horribly from bloatware. IE8 has at least made considerable advances in safety and security, but it’s still got some gaping holes. That said, IE8 is still in BETA so they have time to turn things around.

Firefox 3 is pretty much the same ol’ firefox it’s always been. Of course the big advantage of Firefox is that you get access to AdBlockerPro, which not only gets rid of popups and advertisements but it drastically speeds up your browsing by doing so. Another addon I like is FlashBlock which really helps to speed up your browser as well as for some reason Firefox doesn’t seem to handle Flash as well as IE8 it seems.

So what is the “Best” browser? Well IE8 is still slow and insecure, so we’ll wait for it’s final release, but Firefox 3 and Chrome are pretty similar. They’re both fast, lightweight, crash-resistant browsers with good security and reliability. Chrome has a slight edge when it comes to Javascript, but Firefox 3 is better with their addons which really make the web more fun. They’re both free, so why not try them both out and see what’s best for you? Of course there is still Opera and Safari if these 3 just don’t cut it for you.

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