6 ms·

Tabbed browsing and incognito mode were incredibly innovative. edit - Looks like Firefox introduced both. But Chrome was incredible in comparison at the time.

Tabbed browsing and incognito mode were incredibly innovative. edit - Looks like Firefox introduced both. But Chrome was incredible in comparison at the time. I recall thinking Firefox was no longer worth it. I made the move back to Firefox a few years ago.

xxpor 5y ago
FF had tabbed browsing for years before Chrome ever showed up.
- Aa9C4xPz43Gg7k6 5y ago
  And also had single process model which failed completely when you had 50 tabs and Youtube etc. implemented in Flash. Main tab use case being unusable around the time Chrome came out was what motivated me to switch. Also, extensions getting broken at each update.
  - xxpor 5y ago
    Yes, the multi-process model was a godsend. Especially since it was around the time multicore processors started becoming more common, especially on laptops. Perfect timing. Terrible javascript not locking up the whole browser was fantastic.
meestaahjoshee 5y ago
firefox definitely had tabbed browsing and private mode before chrome was released. pretty sure opera had tabbed browsing as well. i just recall chrome being very minimal, clean and fast when it was first released. plus as kreeben said, Google was pretty revered at the time.
- Huffers2 5y ago
  You're right. Opera had tabbed browsing before Firefox existed, and Firefox had tabbed browsing before Chrome existed.
  - wavefunction 5y ago
    I could be wrong but it looks like Opera introduced tabs in 2009 with v10.5 while Firefox's first release was in 2002. Unless we're referring to different things.
    - xorcist 5y ago
      That's not right. Opera had tabs in version 4, released in early 2000. Some people apparently think tabs has to be drag-and-droppable, which Opera had in 2003, in order to be called tabs: https://allthatiswrong.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/opera-did-not-invent-tabbed-browsing/ https://allthatiswrong.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/opera-did-no...
    - meekaaku 5y ago
      No. Opera from early 2000s atleast had tabbed browsing. It also had gestures, paste-and-go, open non-hyper plaintext links in tab etc.
- robotresearcher 5y ago
  Chrome made a big thing at launch about their process isolation of tabs. Was that their innovation?
  - figassis 5y ago
    What chrome sold was speed. Most of their ads were all about how fast websites would open. And tabs was cherry on top. I know that’s what made me jump from IE. I remember I have a Sony vaio desktop then and IE would weigh it down to a crawl, then I install chrome and that just made me swear to never use IE again.
  - tapoxi 5y ago
    Process isolation of tabs, speed (V8), incognito mode, silent updates. Most of this they covered in the announcement comic.
  - rishav_sharan 5y ago
    I remember switching to Chrome just because of the minimalist UI. I don't know if Chrome was faster at that time, but it felt faster and leaner than anything else. I switched back to Firefox when I realized that there were everal extensions I didn't want to part with. And then back to Chrome again after a few years when Firefox upgraded their UI to make everything bigger and bulbous.
  - jhanschoo 5y ago
    Chrome's process isolation meant that one terrible website would not crash or lag the whole browser, as was the case with Firefox.
alexjplant 5y ago
Revisionist history... Firefox and loads of niche browsers (MyIE2/Maxthon which I used in the era where IE was sometimes mandatory for site compatibility) had tabbed browsing.
- xtracto 5y ago
  Somehow it feels like Opera invented most of the features contemporary browsers have. I remember using Opera on an off from the late 90s to late 2000s.
  - Bayart 5y ago
    Opera was a laboratory for a lot of features that got ripped off by everyone else. Vivaldi now still has quite a bit of that spirit (to the point it might feel bloated at times), but I still miss the old Presto-era Opera.
- cxr 5y ago
  Indeed, it would be nice if the tendency of people to jump into a conversation and start spewing absolute nonsense were subject to harsher social consequences. But it was not just niche browsers. By the time of Chrome's debut (2008), just about every browser had tabs—including Internet Explorer: "With the release of Internet Explorer 7 in 2006, all major web browsers featured a tabbed interface." <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(interface)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(interface)#History>
  - tolbish 5y ago
    What punishment would be harsh enough in your eyes for the grave mistake of correcting a wrong memory?
    - cxr 5y ago
      Public beheading.
- ericbarrett 5y ago
gogopuppygogo 5y ago
Mozilla (the at the time self titled browser they had before Firefox) even had tabs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Application_Suite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Application_Suite
ginko 5y ago
There were tabbed browsers before that but the first mainstream browser to introduce tabbed browsing was Opera in 2000.
jrib 5y ago
chrome's big win was that it was fast. When it came out firefox felt super sluggish and it was a refreshing change. That and better isolation of tabs so that one tab wouldn't ruin your entire browser experience with some javascript that was thrashing.
sillysaurusx 5y ago
I have no idea why you’re completely annihilated in downvotes. You’re right, at least about the incognito mode. I clearly remember chrome introducing this with a blog post or something; my boss at the time even joked that they used an example of “secretly buying a gift for someone” instead of all the dirty, dirty porn you want to watch. Tabbed browsing, no idea though. No one is claiming chrome invented the concept of incognito mode. It was just executed incredibly well.

xxpor 5y ago

FF had tabbed browsing for years before Chrome ever showed up.

Aa9C4xPz43Gg7k6 5y ago
And also had single process model which failed completely when you had 50 tabs and Youtube etc. implemented in Flash. Main tab use case being unusable around the time Chrome came out was what motivated me to switch. Also, extensions getting broken at each update.
- xxpor 5y ago
  Yes, the multi-process model was a godsend. Especially since it was around the time multicore processors started becoming more common, especially on laptops. Perfect timing. Terrible javascript not locking up the whole browser was fantastic.

meestaahjoshee 5y ago

firefox definitely had tabbed browsing and private mode before chrome was released. pretty sure opera had tabbed browsing as well. i just recall chrome being very minimal, clean and fast when it was first released. plus as kreeben said, Google was pretty revered at the time.

Huffers2 5y ago
You're right. Opera had tabbed browsing before Firefox existed, and Firefox had tabbed browsing before Chrome existed.
- wavefunction 5y ago
  I could be wrong but it looks like Opera introduced tabs in 2009 with v10.5 while Firefox's first release was in 2002. Unless we're referring to different things.
  - xorcist 5y ago
    That's not right. Opera had tabs in version 4, released in early 2000. Some people apparently think tabs has to be drag-and-droppable, which Opera had in 2003, in order to be called tabs: https://allthatiswrong.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/opera-did-not-invent-tabbed-browsing/ https://allthatiswrong.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/opera-did-no...
  - meekaaku 5y ago
    No. Opera from early 2000s atleast had tabbed browsing. It also had gestures, paste-and-go, open non-hyper plaintext links in tab etc.
robotresearcher 5y ago
Chrome made a big thing at launch about their process isolation of tabs. Was that their innovation?
- figassis 5y ago
  What chrome sold was speed. Most of their ads were all about how fast websites would open. And tabs was cherry on top. I know that’s what made me jump from IE. I remember I have a Sony vaio desktop then and IE would weigh it down to a crawl, then I install chrome and that just made me swear to never use IE again.
- tapoxi 5y ago
  Process isolation of tabs, speed (V8), incognito mode, silent updates. Most of this they covered in the announcement comic.
- rishav_sharan 5y ago
  I remember switching to Chrome just because of the minimalist UI. I don't know if Chrome was faster at that time, but it felt faster and leaner than anything else. I switched back to Firefox when I realized that there were everal extensions I didn't want to part with. And then back to Chrome again after a few years when Firefox upgraded their UI to make everything bigger and bulbous.
- jhanschoo 5y ago
  Chrome's process isolation meant that one terrible website would not crash or lag the whole browser, as was the case with Firefox.

alexjplant 5y ago

Revisionist history... Firefox and loads of niche browsers (MyIE2/Maxthon which I used in the era where IE was sometimes mandatory for site compatibility) had tabbed browsing.

xtracto 5y ago
Somehow it feels like Opera invented most of the features contemporary browsers have. I remember using Opera on an off from the late 90s to late 2000s.
- Bayart 5y ago
  Opera was a laboratory for a lot of features that got ripped off by everyone else. Vivaldi now still has quite a bit of that spirit (to the point it might feel bloated at times), but I still miss the old Presto-era Opera.
cxr 5y ago
Indeed, it would be nice if the tendency of people to jump into a conversation and start spewing absolute nonsense were subject to harsher social consequences. But it was not just niche browsers. By the time of Chrome's debut (2008), just about every browser had tabs—including Internet Explorer: "With the release of Internet Explorer 7 in 2006, all major web browsers featured a tabbed interface." <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(interface)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(interface)#History>
- tolbish 5y ago
  What punishment would be harsh enough in your eyes for the grave mistake of correcting a wrong memory?
  - cxr 5y ago
    Public beheading.
ericbarrett 5y ago

gogopuppygogo 5y ago

Mozilla (the at the time self titled browser they had before Firefox) even had tabs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Application_Suite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Application_Suite

ginko 5y ago

There were tabbed browsers before that but the first mainstream browser to introduce tabbed browsing was Opera in 2000.

jrib 5y ago

chrome's big win was that it was fast. When it came out firefox felt super sluggish and it was a refreshing change. That and better isolation of tabs so that one tab wouldn't ruin your entire browser experience with some javascript that was thrashing.

sillysaurusx 5y ago

I have no idea why you’re completely annihilated in downvotes. You’re right, at least about the incognito mode. I clearly remember chrome introducing this with a blog post or something; my boss at the time even joked that they used an example of “secretly buying a gift for someone” instead of all the dirty, dirty porn you want to watch. Tabbed browsing, no idea though. No one is claiming chrome invented the concept of incognito mode. It was just executed incredibly well.