CoolNovo

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on November 29, 2010

ChromePlus from Maple Studio is exactly what it sounds like: Google Chrome, plus a bunch of useful extras. Like Chrome, ChromePlus is free, and everything Chrome does, it does. The "plus" part adds Mouse Gestures, Super Drag, a Download Manager, enhanced bookmarks, an IE tab, and more.

The ChromePlus installer automatically checked for the latest version of the program; it also advised us to close Firefox so it could import bookmarks and other settings from Mozilla, just like when installing Chrome. ChromePlus happily coexists with Chrome on the same desktop; we had both open at the same time as we installed our extensions, all of which functioned perfectly in ChromePlus. The most noticeable difference from Chrome was the presence of all the links from our Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar in the ChromePlus Bookmarks Bar, a welcome sight since Chrome didn't install them automatically, though it did import them to the Other Bookmarks folder. An integrated search bar was the only other visible difference, but when we clicked on the tool icon to access the program's options, we saw what made ChromePlus different. Starting with the New IE tab, which opens a new browser tab in IE for pages optimized for Internet Explorer, ChromePlus adds an enhanced bookmarks section; a control to clear your browsing history; the ChromePlus Download Manager; and Enhanced Options, which let us configure settings for tabs, bookmarks, privacy data, and how the browser functions as well as access the settings for Mouse Gestures, IE Tabs, Adblocking, Accelerators (keystroke shortcuts), and start-up options. The tabbed Chrome Options dialog is there, too, and there's links to the ChromePlus Web site and forum as well. Of course, what matters is how well ChromePlus performs. It loaded and browsed every bit as quickly as a stripped-down Chrome installation, but its extras really made a difference. For instance, the Super Drag feature let us grab and drag a link into a new tab automatically, which may be the quickest method yet. Mouse Gestures are useful but require some practice. The IE Tab functioned perfectly, and switching modes was easy. Of course, it supports Chrome's incognito mode, too.

Google Chrome is getting better all the time, and it's become a serious contender for browser supremacy. ChromePlus adds features and options that take Chrome another step toward that goal. If you use Chrome, try ChromePlus.