Tip #3: Google is NOT your browser's address bar

I don't like to say this, but whenever I see people who have Google set as their homepage, and they just type whatever address (URL) they want to go to into the search box, it just ticks me off.

Google is a search engine; it is not your browser's address bar. There is a reason why all browser developers put a long text box on the top of this window.

Let me demonstrate to you, why you should use the address bar in your browser, not Google's search box, to type in the URL of the website you want to go to.
The table below counts the number of steps taken for each approach, to go to Facebook.

Step	Using Google	Using address bar
1	Wait for Google's homepage to load	Click on address bar or press F6
2	Type www.facebook.com	Type www.facebook.com
3	Press Enter or click Google Search	Press Enter or click Go button
4	Wait for search results to load	Wait for website to load
5	Look through results to find the correct one	Done, arrived at Facebook Login to Facebook
6	Stare at result and wonder if it's the right one	Check News Feed and Notifications
7	Click on result to see if it's the right one	Read comments left by friends and reply to them
8	Wait for page to load	Open your Facebook games (Mafia Wars, Restaurant City etc)
9	(if it's the right one) Done, (finally) arrived at Facebook	(optional) Laugh at the person sitting next to you who used the Google approach to get to Facebook

Use Google only when you are not sure of the exact URL. For instance, if you want to go to TM's (Telekom Malaysia) website, but not sure if it's www.tm.com.my, www.tm.net.my, www.tm.net or www.tm.com, search for "TM" and "pages from Malaysia".

If you have changed your mind and decided to switch to the "using address bar" approach, instead of reaching for your mouse to click on the address bar, you can press F6 to highlight the current address and type over it.

There are a few other better things which you can do with Google that your browser's address bar can't.