Here's a review from VentureBeat, saying that "Chrome already provides a much more pleasant web experience than Microsoft’s newest competitor Internet Explorer 8 (also in beta)." TechCrunch points out that Chrome doesn't work with Lively. Mashable says Chrome is not a Windows killer, but also points out seven great things about it.
Henry Blodget at Silicon Alley Insider was the most enthusiastic, writing a post titled "Google launches cloud operating system; calls it a browser." In it, he writes: "If you're thinking about "Chrome" as just another web browser, you're missing the larger point. Chrome will no doubt function just fine as a browser, giving you yet another icon choice to add to your browser collection alongside IE, Firefox, and Safari. It will also likely include some whizbang new features that force Microsoft and Mozilla to immediately retool their own offerings. But that's almost beside the point."
The merging of the address bar and search bar gives Google too much control over navigation. It separates companies and website operators from their website addresses and brands.
Companies spend heavily to establish and maintain brands. Google has just imposed itself between consumers and businesses. Direct navigation has now become proprietary search, whereby Google uses its discretion to filter out web addresses and domains that it deems less relevant.
I object and I hope others do too.