ChromePlus is a new browser produced by Maple Studio and is currently maintained by 2 main contributors: Jalon Zhai & Laura G. Van. The project was based on Google’s open-source project called Chromium (source codes for Google Chrome). The development team main goal is basically to improve the overall usage experience of most Google Chrome browser users by providing more helpful and convenient features. ChromePlus currently runs only on Windowsplatforms including Windows 2003, XP, Vista, and Windows 7.The Interface:
The interface of ChromePlus is very similar to that of Google Chrome’s. The only different that I’ve noticed was the ChromePlus Logo found of the upper right side of the browser. The similarity is pretty much understandable since it’s based on Google Chrome but I would expect that on the future development on the browser, they can add more distinguishing changes that would set them apart from its mother browser.
Functionalities & Features:
Basically, ChromePlus has all the functionalities that Google Chrome (where it is mainly based at). Currently, this new browser has these 5 major features:
• Double click tab to close – when closing a specific tab in the browser, all you need to do is just double click that tab and it will automatically close itself. This feature seems to be very minimal but very helpful when you are in a rush and don’t have the time to aim your mouse cursor on the ‘X’ button of each tab.
• Mouse Gestures – This feature, for me, is the most exciting and fun compared to others. The browser has a built in Arrow Trace mouse gesture which draws an arrow trace on the page while using the right button of your mouse. It may seem confusing at first but, when properly practiced, can save you a lot of time. One thing to note about is that mouse gestures can’t be tweaked or customized.
• Super drag – Super drag lets you drag a link in the page with your left button and drop it somewhere else in the page, creating a new tab page to open the link. Dragging and dropping a block of text in the page will also create a new page and search the text with your default search engine (which is Google). This is definitely helpful in times when you do not understand a specific word or text in the page. You just have to drag that word and it will be automatically searched via Google search.
• IE (Internet Explorer) tab – You might be wondering why Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was included in the picture. Well, some web pages use IE controls and thus can only run in IE correctly. The development team are aware of such problem hence, they designed the IE tab to visit such pages without actually opening the IE browser. Pretty handy feature indeed.
• Download tools Support – Since downloading is very common in web browsing, ChromePlus supports some of the popular download tools in the context menu (the menu that appears when you right click your mouse) of web pages. Some of them include NetAnts, Orbit, QQ Xuanfeng, IS, FlashGet3, FlashGetMini, NetX, WebThunder, Xunlei, and many more. Just take note that you have to install those tools first in your PC before you can use it in your context menu.
You can also visit ChromePlus’ official page for more details and screenshots of such features.
Problems & Issues:
Although ChromePlus has a number of good features, it should be noted that the browser is still in its early development stage which means that it is inevitable that there will really be problems or issues that it will encounter.
1. Bugs and Major/Minor Fixes
Bugs are really unavoidable when developing an application. Some of them are still undiscovered and has to be tested very well to improve performance and stability of the program. Some identified bugs are coming from the IE tab feature. If you encounter problems on the browser, you can go to the Forums section of their official website to seek help from other people or from the development team themselves.
2. No proper documentation
ChromePlus lacks proper documentation for their application. It is very important so that ordinary users have some sort of manual whenever they experience problems along the way.
3. Problems in security
Basically the problem on security is always present when developing a program. But in the case of ChromePlus, I think they lack the manpower to take care of all security issues present online. It requires a lot of effort and may take a lot of time to solve all of them.
Conclusion:
ChromePlus is a pretty good browser that everyone should try. It has a number of features which you cannot find on other popular browsers. It’s fast and very light like its mother browser. However, if you are looking for a more stable and secure browser that you will permanently use, they I cannot recommend you to use ChromePlus since it’s still in its early years of development and you might encounter certain flaws along the way. I hope ChromePlus will improve drastically in the future and will be as competitive as those other popular browsers available online.
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