Chrome 15 Is Now World’s Most Popular Browser (Version)

That's fine and dandy for experienced PC users like you and me but what about regular people? Housewives, pensioners, working people who want to use a browser but don't have much time to invest in learning its intricacies.

History has shown that people can live with screwed up technology for a long time without looking for improvements because they think it's normal or they're used to it (floppy disks for file transfer in the 21st century, for instance) and sometimes new technology or features have to be forced upon the user for them to take it up. In the case of Chrome, regular people get a truncated version of what a browser can do (no significant difference in features from Internet Explorer except speed). This creates a large entry barrier for regular people.

Do you think your average grandpa using Chrome (or Firefox, for that matter) will have a revelation at some point, thinking "gee, I'd really like to have mouse gestures, they would make my life so much easier for my poor hands"? Or "wow, I'd sure like a speed dial whenever I open my browser so that I can go with one click to the pages I most often use" (no, I don't want "most visited" as chosen by Chrome, I want speed dial). No, of course it's not going to happen; grandpa has never heard of RSS, mouse gestures, speed dial, and so on; someone (or something) has to explicitly tell/show him these features so that he becomes aware that they are possible.

I also have a personal beef with the people who thought that on startup Chrome should have "open the home page" as default option instead of "reopen the pages that were open last". This is the most retarded default option I could think of in our day and age - if someone wants to get rid of their tabs then they will CLOSE THEM. It's that simple. Just because I have to close the browser does not mean that I finished what I was doing and that I want my tabs closed. Opera got this right more than 10 years ago but some people still have the Internet Explorer 6 mindset. It's as if all your Gmail messages were marked unread when you logged in to your inbox because hey, it's a new session.

TL/DR - extensions are a poor substitute for built-in functionality in a world where the majority of users still are regular users (non-tech savvy). Grandpa Joe will not go digging for extensions.

I think you are vastly over-stating the cross-section of the population that both has no idea what a browser extension is, yet knows about RSS and cares about using it.

this lists latest versions on every platform for every channel.

>I would rather put my trust in Google than Microsoft, I believe that Google have the interest of a faster more up to date web than Microsoft do and I go with their values.

Not I trust Google over every company in the world. And I state my reasons for trusting Google over Microsoft. Because I think they are more in tune with the values of what I think the web should be about.

Yes I also think the more domineering companies are the most innovative. Do you think if WebOS was so innovative and fantastic HP would have canned it? Would HP (or google) be anywhere near the level of phone we have today if it wasn't for the iPhone?

You're right in that it has a lot to do with marketing and Google would not have got Chrome to where it is today without their ability to market it but if it was crap then there would have been no uptake? They don't get a 25% browser share from developing something that doesn't work?

Look at Google Wave, massive marketing, everyone looked forward to it and it was rubbish. It's not all about marketing or love for a brand. It's a mixture of everything. I also don't start dismissing a companies products because they are getting too big, I don't want the next best thing, I was the best tool for the job. Regardless of who it is (within realms of common sense)