Chrome Complaints

I am writing this in Chrome, because I recently switched. Not permanently, exactly, but what browser switch is ever permanent for us, right? Chrome is now my default browser, but I still use Firefox for SEO (plus, the new one is just darn cool--if it weren't for having to weigh it down with all my SEO extensions, I just might make it default), and I am guessing I may go back to Safari as my default sooner than later. It's just that Chrome is so pretty, and fast (and capable of running the mozbar from seomoz.org). Why go back to the browser from whence I came?

• Chrome leaves me unable to type a domain name into the URL bar and hit enter to have “.com” automatically appended to it (it will search Google instead). That's FOUR extra characters I have to type EVERY TIME I know I want to go to a .com for which I do not have a bookmark. [UPDATE: Control-Enter automatically prepends "www." and appends ".com" to your omnibar entry. Thanks Elessar for the tip!]

• For whatever reason, a random character, followed by a space, will be prepended to a search done from the omnibar, making it useless. This happens randomly--without apparent pattern--and I can't find anything about it on the interweb. But it renders the behavior that causes my first problem a sacrifice made in vain. [UPDATE: A Chrome update fixed this issue for 9 out of 10 queries.]

• The full title tag of any website can’t ever really be seen, because Chrome displays titles in the tab for each tab, instead of at the top of the window for the active tab.

• There is no visible button that links to the RSS feed for the active page. Which means when I find a feed I want to add to NetNewsWire, I have to hunt it down manually instead of just clicking a button. Safari sometimes replaces the RSS button in the URL bar with a "Reader" button. But still. Actually, I should try to find a hack to disable that in Safari. I bet it's out there [UPDATE: No hack found].

• Safari has far more control over "top sites", which are prettier anyway, than Chrome does over its equivalent. This is huge for me, as I put 1Password bookmarks into Safari's Top Sites for one click logins to social and financial websites.

• The 1Password extension, though more beautiful, still lacks Go & Fill functionality, which sets me back quite a bit in terms of efficiency. Otherwise it is a joy to use in Chrome. [UPDATE: This functionality has recently been added to a beta, but DEVONthink functionality isn't included in the beta, so I'll have to wait to upgrade.]

• A few other extensions that work in Safari do not work in Chrome (DEVONthink and Instapaper being the two biggest ones for me). [NOTE: The Instapaper bookmarklet functions just fine in Chrome, as do most of the DEVONthink bookmarklets--just not the "Clip to DEVONthink" one.][UPDATE: DEVONthink now has a Chrome extension.]

• Some sites, though they work with other WebKit-based browsers such as Safari, do not work with Chrome (like chase.com) [NOTE: This is probably due to poor coding on the part of these websites.].

At the end of the day, whatever efficiency Chrome's speed margin over Safari is, I think I net a loss due to these issues. If you work for Google, fix these and I will be all yours. If you work for Apple, just keep doing what you're doing. But ditch the "Reader" concept, or else at least don't let it eclipse the RSS button.