Google Chrome is by far one of the best browsers available on the internet. In case you didn't know, back in May of this year, Google Chrome edged out Internet Explorer to become the most widely used browser around. I especially think that all bloggers should use Google Chrome even if they only use it as a second browser. There are so many Chrome extensions that help us get our work done more efficiently and over the past 2 years I've heard from hundreds of bloggers who have left their beloved Firefox behind and ditched it for Google Chrome. Here are the latest stats I got from Stats Counter showing Browser usage from May of 2012 through October 2012.
Updating Google Chrome
With all the praise I heap onto Google Chrome I will admit that every now and then it begins to hiccup.
Most of the time when this happens, Chrome crashes just as I'm watching a great YouTube video or if there is a conflict with the Shockwave Flash player.
Since I'm a big YouTube addict and even when I'm not watching videos, I'm recording them myself so you can just imagine that it's a major nuisance for me when Google Chrome stops working. The good thing is that I figured out months ago (maybe it was back in May come to think of it) that the easy way to resolve these hiccups is to simply update to the latest version of Chrome.
Whenever you think Google Chrome is behaving strangely, simply go to the toolbar, find the icon for the browser manager on the far right, open the pull down menu and click “About Google Chrome” as shown below:
The next screenshot shows what you'll see while the Google Chrome browser is being updated (the current update is from version 22 to version 23:
Next you'll be prompted to relaunch Google Chrome to complete the update:
Now your browser is up to date (currently running Google Chrome version 23):
Oh but there is one more thing I want you to do in order to get the most out of using Google Chrome!
But I need to tell you a little story first…
Gmail Adds New Compose Window
Gmail is another free tool that Google provides that has drastically changed my online life. At this point I think you are starting to get the idea that I'm a huge fan of the big G, and Gmail is partly responsible for that. Recently Matt Cutts talked about how Google dedicates resources to making improvements and innovations on Gmail. One of the latest iterations is the new Compose feature and if you haven't seen it yet, here's an example of what it looks like:
At first glance, I wasn't too sure I wanted to use the new Gmail Compose feature. While it seemed like a handy tool, it was missing something I really like which is my WiseStamp signature (more about why I like WiseStamp later). I had some discussion about this over on Google + with my friend Francisco Perez aka DiTesco and WiseStamp was working for him with the new Compose feature, but not for me. A day or so later, I reached out to the folks and WiseStamp and found out they just rolled out an update their Google Chrome extension so it would work with the new Compose feature of Gmail.
Sure enough, when I went back and checked again and it was working on my computer too. I hope you can see the difference as my contact information now appears as a signature (thanks to WiseStamp) in the Gmail Compose window on the screenshot below:
Update Your Google Chrome Extensions Too!!
I had to include that little back story so that I could give credit to the folks at WiseStamp for sharing this last tip I have for keeping your Chrome browser up to date. One last thing you need to do in order to have every new feature possible is update your Google Chrome extensions as well.
Yes, it's an extra step, but it's super simple too. Just open a new browser window and navigate to this link which shows a listing of all the Google Chrome extensions and apps that are installed on your browser chrome://chrome/extensions
At the top of the page be sure you have developer mode turned on and then click the button to update your extensions:
That was a lot of information so let's recap:
- Use Google Chrome
- Keep it updated and update your extensions too! (It's a 2 step process but both steps are super simple)
- Use Gmail and check out the new Compose feature
- Get your friends to help you 🙂
- Try WiseStamp
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