fhail year?
more like, fhail-like-but-not year.
It's only the start of the year and I officially declare this year a phailure.
Today (well yesterday actually) marks the day that I completed my 5th and final paper in my CBA level.
Fundamentals of management accounting
Fundamentals of financial accounting
Fundamentals of business mathematics
Fundamentals of business economics
Fundamentals of ethics, corporate governance and business law
So what's next?
I'm moving on to the next level which is known as the Operational level but due to how the schedule in my college is planned, I have to take up a paper in the Managerial level as well.
Next up:
P1: Performance Operations
E2: Enterprise Management
I've looked at the sample question and answer exam papers in the CIMA website and all I can say is HOLY SHIT. Take a look for yourself.
E2 enterprise management specimen question paperE2 enterprise management specimen answers
So I was on FM like how I am everyday and stumbled upon an old thread regarding Google Chrome.
I have tried out the older builds and didn't like it much primarily because of the lack of customisation and one annoying option which is smooth scrolling. But then I found out the latest beta build (4.0.249.43) as of writing this post supports new features; extensions and bookmark syncing.
Normally I don't really pay much attention regarding new builds of Safari, Opera or Chrome because they lack what Firefox has to give, which is the ability to download extensions to increase the usability of the browser itself.
New! Google Chrome now has extensions and bookmark sync.
Anyway the post caught my attention and so I went to check out the extensions webpage. Turns out there are a lot of extensions available for download already. What I'm truly liking is that most of the extensions that I use in my Firefox browser are available as Google Chrome extensions!
Also not excluding bookmark syncing. When I installed Chrome and launched it for the first time on my Windows 7 OS, it prompted me that I couldn't import my browsing sessions and bookmarks into Chrome due to Firefox being open at that time. So I closed it and clicked Continue. Chrome imported all my browsing sessions/bookmarks/history/saved username and passwords inside!. Neat! (+ points for Chrome)
It didn't import cookies though but nothing of importance.
So why the switch you ask?
Well the main gripe for me not to switch to another browser was not about speed and security. Firefox has better security than Internet Explorer and if you have the Noscript + Adblock Plus extensions installed then practically you're very safe in regards to browsing security.
One particular flaw about Firefox was that it ate a lot of memory and started to lag quite a bit after some intense tabbing sessions. And of course there's the cold boot problem where it'll take quite a few seconds to launch and be usable. It's kinda like how fast Windows boots up to the point you'll be able to use it VS Linux's boot up time. It's a whole lot of difference.
Google Chrome doesn't have the cold boot launching lag. It boots up faster than Firefox. But before then it didn't have much features at all other than speed, which is not what I am after. Of course I want it to be faster and responsive. Everybody wants that. However speed alone isn't going to make me switch to Chrome.
The features that made me switch (so-called) is due to the customisability of Chrome now with extensions support and of course the benefits of speed. (No cold boot delay and the like)
Extensions that I have currently installed in Chrome 4.0
So is it there yet? For me I would reply, not yet there but almost. Very close.
Why?
Some of the extensions don't work that well yet compared to their counterparts in Firefox, namely Adblock. Some ads do not get blocked and some of them are just hidden from sight, it's noticeable when I load a webpage with ads on it and see that the ads appear then disappear after 5 seconds. Not much of a problem but annoying nonetheless to me.
There's no Noscript on Chrome. Hopefully there will be in the future.
Accessing my bookmarks isn't that convenient compared to Firefox but it'll do.
And you know what's new?
Facebook lite : It's bloody well convenient!
I don't even need to load Facebook anymore!
And lastly, the most important extension of all... smooth-scroll!
Yep, can never live without smooth scroll.
Unfortunately, even though Chrome is faster than Firefox and now it has support for extensions to make it more attractive to users like me. If you're looking for a less memory-hog, you can look somewhere else.
Fresh boot memory usage.
Not much than firefox on fresh boot but right now just by writing out this post only. Usage has shot up to 150MB onwards. So yeah not much different from Firefox on that end.
In conclusion, Google Chrome has matured over the lines and now is coming up on par to fight with browsers that offer more functionality with little cost in regards to speed. In fact it's offering more functionality PLUS speed which is definitely something Mozilla failed to achieve up to til day.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about Firefox at all. Firefox is still a relatively good browser and will remain to be one in the years to come. Because Internet Explorer is such a trash that's why.
But as I've said Google Chrome isn't there yet when it comes to besting Firefox's customisability. But it's very very close. On top of that users might prefer using Chrome now just because of the speed difference between the two.
So if you ask me which browser will I choose, it'll be a hard decision. Both browsers are fine. If you think switching is a hassle then don't. Stay on Firefox. But for those who prefer speed then switch to Chrome. As for users like me who hesitated to switch because of the lack of extensions, don't hesitate anymore. Make the switch now.
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