If you use Chrome / Chromium and Google+ but hate the stream being cluttered and hard to follow, there is an extension that should make your life much easier.
Plus Minus allows you to collapse posts in your stream down to just a few lines making it easier to follow and see what you have already read and what is new. Additionally, it allows you to expand the width of the stream to take advantage of your resolution rather than just taking up the middle of the screen. You can also shrink the entire stream at once as well as other options like selecting which circles to show or hide.
