BoT

i think you hit the nail on the head but your expectations of chrome might not be in line.
chrome is/was supposed to be a no thrills browser, only delivering pure speed and stability. i find it to work better with sites that are very content rich, it also interprets css, java and flash better then IE.
i usually us both well, really i have them all installed chrome, safari, IE, FF and opera. i really like opera and as far as i know it's still free. i just wish opera would stop trying to compete with FF for the desktop browser crown.