I can understand preferring Safari but saying Chrome is rubbish is...well...rubbish.
As far as I see, most people in this forum tend to hate on Chrome for the mere fact that it is from Google. Hating Google seems to be the cool and "in" thing for Apple fans by the looks of it.
As far as specifics goes...
- Chrome has better support for modern web standards/technologies (HTML5/CSS3) than Safari does.
- Chrome currently has a better web inspector tool (same to the one Safari had but which they changed for the worst).
- Chrome enjoys better and wider selection of extensions and apps and a better way to manage them.
- The new download manager in Safari is awfully implemented, forced as it is into the toolbar, Chrome's is far better.
- The new view all tabs feature of Safari is actually less functional than Chrome's as it only let's you view one tab at a time while Chrome's works like Spaces, giving you an overview of all your open tabs and letting you quickly jump into the one you want, without having to slide several times to the sides in order to get to it.
- Interestingly enough, Apple, like Firefox before them, decided to follow suit and implement the unified address bar that the "rubbish" browser Chrome had implemented since the beginning.
- Design wise, Chrome is better as far as providing visual feedback to the user goes. Safari, for instance, has no favicons on it's tabs, making it harder for the user to quickly identify an open tab and switch to it. It is also lacking on a clear visual feedback for when a page is loading. The blue bar fills quickly but the page is still loading and all you have to know this is a little small "X" to the right of the address bar. The status bar at the bottom doesn't even says that anything is downloading.
In iOS, to put it mildly, Chrome eats mobile Safari for breakfast. Aside from the issue with the javascript engine and the inability to set it as your default browser (all of which is Apple's doing), in terms of functionality, ease of use, design and features Chrome is way better. Chrome doesn't just syncs all your bookmarks and history but also the open tabs you have on Chrome in your mac so that you can open them in iOS (and viceversa) preserving your back history and all.
You can open unlimited tabs, unlike Safari, can search in a page, unlike Safari, can access Chrome's preferences within the app, unlike Safari which forces you to exit the app and dig into system preferences, you can actually delete the cache WITHOUT deleting a bunch of other browser data, as Safari forces you to do, tabs management is faster and more intuitive Chrome, it allows you to open incognito tabs, etc.
I could say more but all in all it is quite easy to see why "everyone is so taken with Chrome". It is a darn good browser that is constantly updated and a joy to use. It strikes the happy medium between the customizability of Firefox and the simplicity of Safari and imo, does each better than both.
