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Google set to steal Opera's thunder yet again, decides to eliminate url bar
MilesAhead:
Hmmmmm ain't it weird how stuff cycles around? I remember when I was a kid many of the older cars on the block had a starter button on the dashboard.
I forget the model but now there's some new expensive ride with this big starter button on the dash like it's some innovation. Guess if you save your suit coat long enough it will come back in style.
Didn't some version of Netscape come with this real small address bar? I seem to remember having to mess with it to get the input line wider than 2 inches.
Paul Keith:
Seriously. Who has ever looked at the address bar and thought "man, I wish this were not here." Whoever it is, it's like .01% of the users.
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In fairness though, the same was said for MDI windows before Firefox popularized tabs.
The same was argued for a lite interface for Opera before Chrome happened.
You also have to factor in the number of people who don't know that their browsers can go fullscreen. Back then, if memory serves me right, I'd go full screen in Opera to get a "lite" version of the toolbars.
I also use F2 alot and the only reason few people rarely do that is because they don't use Opera or don't know it exists.
Opera also thought nobody cared for the start bar but when they removed it - massive uproar.
Even today there are still some Opera features that you think nobody (especially casuals) would use but it's only because techies tend to give little respect to GUI interface. Example - YeahWrite was there in all it's glory but it takes how many years before OneNote releases that interface and guess what? Took the end-user community by storm.
I'm not saying Google would be right by just removing the address bar but Google wouldn't be wrong either especially from a usability standpoint. Less bar means more space for buttons/extensions as well as extra line to read text. Equally F2 = less time than dragging a mouse to the address bar. Address bars also don't show a lot of information compared to sidebars and full-on pages. They also contain a lot less visuals for beginning browser users compared to something like search options. Also despite the innovations made to overcome this, casual users may often not get why there's a www. in front of a bar and I've said this before, Chrome does not aim to be a browser first and foremost but a windows to the internet like the original IE.
I think the most irritating "removal" in Chrome is how if I stop moving my mouse, it hides my cursor. I have not yet figured out how to disable it from doing that.
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Man...I never noticed this. Thanks for the mention.
wraith808:
I think the most irritating "removal" in Chrome is how if I stop moving my mouse, it hides my cursor. I have not yet figured out how to disable it from doing that.
-app103 (February 21, 2011, 12:00 AM)
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It does? Mine doesn't do that. The cursor is always there. The only time it's hard to find is if it's over text, as it changes to a very skinny I-bar.
y0himba:
I just want the extension icons back at the bottom, in the status bar or above it. I hate the extensions being right next to the URL bar.
wraith808:
I just want the extension icons back at the bottom, in the status bar or above it. I hate the extensions being right next to the URL bar.
-y0himba (February 21, 2011, 08:01 AM)
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+1. I understand that it takes away a bit of the screen real estate. But on my desktop, I don't care. I do want it to be an option though, b/c it's very convenient on my tablet.
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