Friday, December 18, 2009

Life Just Got Complicated - Google Chrome Extensions

Google Chrome Extensions


OK, my life has just been thrown out of balance.  So long as the Google Chrome browser didn't have a simple ability to pick up RSS feeds (c'mon, that was pretty lame) and didn't have access to my many life-saving Firefox extensions, it was pretty easy to just use the resource-hungry Chrome as a secondary browser--one I could open when I didn't want to mess with my saved tabs in Firefox.

Tonight I discovered the Chrome extensions, which require that you are running the beta version of Chrome.  And being the Google junkie that I am, the tight extension integration with Wave, Reader, Blogger, Calendar, and Tasks are rocking my world.  Add in diigo, Picnik, Twitter, Facebook, and about a dozen other REALLY good looking extensions, and I'm in trouble.  In a weird kind of way (and I know this stage will pass and be replaced by actual productivity) I'm almost upset that Google's finally done such a good job here on the extension platform.  This will seriously complicated my browser life.  Honestly, now I'll have to keep track of which browser does a better job with which extensions, and I'm pretty sure that particular confusion is not productive.  The simpler times when I could ignore Chrome and stick with my beloved Firefox seem to be fading before my very eyes.

Maybe there's a really big flaw here that I haven't discovered that will yet buy me some more time...

4 comments:

  1. As great as Chrome is (and I'm using it now on Linux, Mac and Windows), I'm still disappointed it doesn't work well with Moodle! But it's getting there with everything else!

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  2. I couldn't agree more. However, I'm a Mac user, and the extensions, such as Diigo, aren't yet Mac compatible. Since I can't imagine living without my Diigo toolbar, I'll have to wait until the extension is available for Mac.

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  3. Thanks a bunch Steve!! I like Chrome because it's simple, clutter free and faster than FF was, but I can not resit the shiny new toys. ARRRGH.

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  4. Agreed on the Moodle piece (though I use it everyday anyways...it helps me hone my HTML skills. Note that safari does the same to the HTML editor).

    My favorite extension by far is one that shortens the url you're on and also posts to twitter. I wasn't lazy before, but this is seriously easy.

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