Check out the Chrome Web Store to supercharge your browsing experience!
I've been using the Google Chrome web browser for some time now, and I love it. The browser is fast, simple, doesn't have a busy interface, and it's very customizable. Up until recently however, there wasn't a whole lot that really distinguished it from Firefox, Safari, Opera and IE.
All that changed with the launch of the Chrome Web Store. Moving a step beyond simple browser extensions, the Web Store turns the Chrome browser into a platform, as opposed to just a gateway to the Internet. When you install extensions and apps from the Chrome Web Store, the browser starts to resemble a smartphone in terms of its interface. Whenever you open a new tab in Chrome, you'll see three shelves of items: Apps, Most Visited Sites and Recently Closed Sites. Like your smartphone, apps are represented by icons that you can click to launch in a new browser tab.
In reality, a lot of these apps are just glorified bookmarks, but there are some great ones that are taking advantage of the platform. USA Today, for example, is formatted specifically for the browser. The Webpage Screenshot app puts a screen capture button on your toolbar and lets you annotate screenshots you capture with ease (I used it for the pics in this post).
Much like the Android Market and ITunes Store, the Chrome Web Store features a ton of both paid and unpaid apps. I've barely scratched the surface of its offerings, and I've already found some great tools, games and entertainment apps that completely change how I use my web browser.The Chrome Web Store also provides a peek at where Google is going with its Chrome OS, as well as what the Mac App Store will probably function like.
So, if you haven't checked out Chrome yet, now is a great time to. You can download the browser itself at www.google.com/chrome, and visit the Web Store at chrome.google.com/webstore.
I wish I had been one of the lucky recipients of the Google laptop, I'm eager to try one out. I would've been happy just to get the box it came in, it's pretty sweet: http://www.google.com/chromeos/static/images/cr48-10.jpg