ChromePlus: Adding IE-tab support and so much more to Google Chrome since…NOW

Even though Google Chrome doesn’t enjoy as much success as IE or Firefox, it is still a very capable browser that in it’s current Beta 3 form is of the quickest browsers around. It’s lightweight while still looking relatively stylish. I personally like the style though some may find the playskool-ish style a bit to childish for their tastes. Moving on, one thing that draws people to Firefox are extensions, extensions, and more extensions which allow you to customize Firefox to the moon and back with all sorts of goodies. For some, the full move to Chrome will finally be complete once more popular and just more plugins in general become available for the Google based browser. However, while we wait, a great little “special build” of Google Chrome called ChromePlus will help ease us into full Google Chrome plugin support.

As previously mentioned, while ChromePlus isn’t a plugin, (it’s actually a special build of Chrome with advanced features), it brings several advanced features that users can surely benefit from. Now, it’s worth noting that many of ChromePlus’ goods are already available from other competitors, though, few of the competitors have the geek draw or speed that Chrome packs under the hood.

My favorite feature of ChromePlus is that of IE-tab support. You may question my favorite pick here as IE is terrible all around. Though if you frequent one of those diamond dried up piece of cow dung in the rough IE-only websites, having the ability to emulate IE inside of a tab instead of having to switch between Chrome and IE in separate windows is a blessing. Another oldie but goodie is that of mouse gestures. I personally don’t use them, but the many that do will certainly be pleased. Also of interest is the SuperDrag feature which will allow users to click and drag a link and open in either the foreground or background windows. A simple yet handy power feature that makes navigating the vast open web all that much easier.

While the options you get with ChromePlus aren’t as robust as a full fledged plugin, it is a noteworthy alternative if you like to tinker. With plugins slowly and finally coming out for Chrome, “special” builds of Chrome will be less relevant as third parties swoop in to take control with plugins. But, for the time being, it’s worth a test drive. Interested users need to know one important fact — for now, ChromePlus is Windows only freeware with Lifehacker reporting issues with 64-bit installs.

yay or nay?

• Download ChromePlus

Source: Lifehacker, Life Rocks 2.0