Chrome also boasts hidden productivity benefits in the form of extensions (or "apps," to use Chrome parlance).

Some of these are embedded links to external services, not Firefox-style plug-ins, but that's a good thing: they don't clutter up and slow down your browser.

Instead, they appear in your app list when you open a new tab. One click and you're there.

I've rounded up five essential Chrome apps for business users. Take a look:

1. Still using Windows' notepad to preserve thoughts and ideas? The horror. Scribble brings sticky notes to your browser, complete with alarms if you have time-sensitive notes.