Firefox has been on a downward spiral since they gave up the Firebird name. Save me, Google.

Chrome: Firefox is in trouble.

I’ve installed Chrome tonight and I’m blown away by two things:

First, it’s ugly. It may be due to Google’s minimalistic design bent, while I’m used to bloated crapfests like Firefox, but the single tiny toolbar at the top of my screen makes me feel naked and vulnerable. The title bar does not blend with my operating system; the color is off, and the title bar itself isn’t acting like one. It’s being used to display tabs, which while I do like the idea behind that, well… Again, it’s a one-off from my operating system. Not cool. Regardless of clear and obvious problems, UI is for chumps. Let’s get to the beef.

The second thing currently blowing me away is how goddamned fast Chrome is. Pages that would take seconds to load on Firefox load instantly on Chrome. Digg.com is a good example. Still, what’s a few seconds here or there? Not much, true, but the fact that Chrome outperforms Firefox to this degree is encouraging. Chrome is clearly a serious play by Google.

I’ve so far had no issues browsing any site with Chrome. That, too, is a good sign – I remember needing to keep IE around when Firebird was picking up steam. I’ve opened tons of tabs; I’ve opened multiple browser windows – no slowdown or weirdness. I dare say I’ll need to leave a Chrome window open overnight – that’s usually when Firefox starts having severe issues. (With every version of late. On every operating system.)

I expect Chrome simply won’t have these irritating flaws.

Flash support seems to work without issue. As much as I hate Flash, it’s pretty much a requirement for viewing videos these days.

All in all, I’m not seeing anything missing from Chrome. Keep in mind, I am the Unix ideal incarnate: I fully believe in individual programs designed to perform specific tasks with extreme cromulence. Those of you who are certifiable and desire a web browser that also serves as, well, everything else – may well be disappointed. Well good, the lot of you can stick with the bloatware that Firefox has become. Please do. Leave me with one small, beautiful browser that just works.