So here I was, minding my own business, when thought I’d have a poke around with a Twitter search or two. First off I figured I’d search for Chrome so see if anything interesting had been spotted about Google’s shiny browser. Turns out very shiny things had happened, very shiny indeed.

Namely the feature I’ve been waiting for… bookmark synchronisation! Great days I eagerly downloaded the dev version (up to version 4 already, crickey) and with great gusto I hammered in my login details and waited with baited (is that even the right spelling in this context? meh) breath for my Google Bookmarks to stream down.

And I waited.

And waited.

Waited some more…

Nothing. Oh. Suppose it must just sync between chrome and other instances of chrome. That’s still cool but was a bit of an anticlimax. But wait… the story doesn’t end here!

Enter @chronarion! The fellow seemed to be interested in tails of bookmark fail, being involved in Chrome development an’ all. His words of wisdom told me that sadly Chrome does not sync with Google Bookmarks (which kinda makes sense – Google Bookmarks sucks.. sorry Google, it’s true). Oh woe was me, for how will I now access my bookmarks when not on one my own machines?! FEAR NOT, said @chronarion (disclaimer: not actually a quote), FOR SALVATION… is at hand. Turns out your Chrome bookmarks are also synced up rather nicely to Google Docs for web-based access where-ever you are.

Well pleased. So export my Google Bookmarks I did, import them to Chrome I continues, and gasped I concluded as I watched with glee at my Google Docs as it filled up with my bookmarks.

The only real down-side I’ve found so far is that you cannot edit your bookmarks within Google Docs but given the highly beta nature of the Chrome dev branch I really don’t feel like complaining about it.

On a side point Chrome (well, Chromium to be accurate) for Mac is feeling more and more stable – I’m now using it side by side with Firefox as my two main browsers. Bookmark sync isn’t enabled in the Mac version at the moment but expect it’ll appear soon.

Keep up the good work Google ^_^

Note: to enable bookmark sync under Windows make sure you’re on at least version 4 of Chrome (FileHippo are always up to date) then follow the easy instructions here. Enjoy!

Slashdot made mention that the testing of the next update to Firefox has turned up and promises lightening fast javascript performance.  But what does that mean to the average folk?   In short it means Facebook will work quicker.  As will gmail, google docs, the new version of Amie Street and pretty much anything else that falls under the web-app type thing (you know, those website that do stuff without reloading the whole page and generally work smoother).

I had a play with Minefield, as the preview version of Firefox 3.1 is called, and was astonished at the speed it loaded pages.  Bear in mind that it can’t make your downloads any quicker, that’s dependant on the speed of yourinternet connection and the reliability of your service provider (*shakes fist at Virgin Media*) but is processes what’s come down crazy fast.  I’m used toFacebook being a little sluggish to get going and sluggish to reload when you move between pages (like going from the homepage to a profile page).  With Minefield the page loaded nearly instantly.  Gmail (despite the usual short delay for the code to run gmail to download) ran fast and very smooth.  The Google Docs performance is outstanding.

This really puts the heat on Google’s Chrome browser which currently beats Firefox 3 hands down in javascript / web-app performance.  Downloading Minefield doesn’t ruin or touch your current installation of Firefox so you can try it at no risk, no commitment and absolutely no salespeople will call.  It’s far from ready for release though (not that it claims to be).  I’ve had Minefield crash on me several times when I have several web-app type sites open.  I’m trying to work out the combo that’s causing the crash so I can be a good little beta-tester and report it ^_^  None the less it’s a great sign of things to come.

If you want to have a play, download Minefield here.