Google Chrome

You may have noticed that there is a funny little icon on the Ask Here desk monitors, or saw a strange looking page left open from a previous user, but you're not quite sure what it is.  Chances are, it's Google Chrome - an alternate web browser to Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE).

Of course, it's totally optional to use and IE is still the default browser.  However, if you'd like to give it a shot, there are a couple of features that I'd like to point out that make Chrome unique (at least compared to our older version of IE).

First, Chrome uses tabs.  This allows the user to go to a new page or site, without having to open up an entirely new window. Simply click on the + to the right of the current tab, and a new page is opened.  Simply type in the desired URL, choose a bookmark link, or click on one of the icons on the newly opened page (these are frequently viewed pages specific to that terminal - one click will load the page).

Next, Chrome's address bar is actually a multi-function tool as well, which they call Omnibox.  You can perform Google searches right in the address bar without having to go to Google.  In the example below, I've searched for "bar code wiki," so that I can get the Wikipedia page for "barcode."  (It's the 57th anniversary of it's invention)

As you can see, once you start typing into Omnibox, it will recognize your phrase as either a URL or as a Google search.  Options automatically dropdown as you type; you can either choose and click one of the options, or press enter to bring up the Google search results page:

If you decide to use Chrome, try these shortcuts out - hopefully they'll save you some time and make searching a little bit easier.

Note:  Although I personally like Chrome, I will point out that it's not perfect.  One of the problems - specifically for staff here at JPL - is the way that webmail is displayed in Chrome.  Some of the features are missing (like the ability to move an item into another folder) and it looks a bit different, so if you're checking your email or doing reference email you might want to stick with IE for those tasks.