How can Google get away with intrusive changes like this especially if you can't even seem to disable major elements like the horrible most-recent boxes?
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They can get away with it because it's their web browser and there are a lot of other choices. If enough people don't like it and switched they would probably change it back.
Tell me. How much did you pay for Chrome and what sort of service do you feel entitled to for that money?
Oh. Nada? Nothing at all. Then I guess they are at liberty to do whatever they damn please. Like they've done numerous times in the past.
If you want a browser you can make (and keep) yours, I suggest you move to Firefox. It's free (as in beer), so it suffers the same problems as Chrome, but it's extensible way beyond what the Chromium allows.
The biggest difference is probably that the Firefox-developers main concern is the browser, not the 200 other systems the company is trying to promote and shove down your throat, so asshattery like this is much more rare.
Tell me, how much did Google pay me for the right not to be criticized? Oh. Nada? Nothing at all. Then I guess I am at liberty to say whatever I damn please.
Oh feel free. I'm just telling you that you aren't entitled to anything. And that complaining is pointless.
Google is way past not listening to its users, power-users or regular users alike, as far as Chrome goes. They have a bigger strategy and Chrome is just one of many means to that end.
Make no mistake about it: Chrome will be bent and reshaped to fit that strategy, not your needs or desires.
I am entitled to complain and I don't think it is pointless at all. As you say, Chrome is part of a larger commercial strategy, but no such strategy can ever be completely detached from what people want.
In this particular case I'm actually pretty sure they will listen, at least partly. Forcing people to show their browser history to everyone around the desk every time you open a new tab has no future. This bug will be gone very very quickly.
Also, we need to finally realize that we are in fact paying customers of Google. The currency in the ad based parts of the economy is our attention. Using Chrome is paying Google. Chrome is how they gain privileged access to our attention. That is their strategy.