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Google Chrome - What does it mean? PDF Print E-mail
Written by MrZen   
Friday, 05 September 2008 08:21

September 3rd 2008 - Google launch a new internet browser

Immediately, the cynic in me said - "oh yes, and what stunt are they pulling there?", the developer in me said - "oh no, not another browser", the geek in me said - "ooh, a new thing to try out", and the security concious me said - "oh no, if I download that, I will open myself up to some nasty attacks..."

I ignored most of my instincts and am writing this entry using the new browser.

First Impressions 

  • It's fast - faster to render a page than both IE and Firefox - Opera is similar...
  • It's fairly compatible - apparently it uses the same engine as Safari, so if your site works on Safari, it will work in Chrome. 
  • It's neat - helpful pages on new tabs listing recently visited tabs, incognito mode for surfing that you're not keen to share
  • It's tidy - no messy toolbars, tabs right at the top of the screen, opens up the page, displaying more content 'above the fold'
Let's deal with the cynic, the developer and the security concious...
  • Matt Cutts (Google's unofficial spokesperson) has posted a very useful article on his website. He was quite obviously pre-prepared for the inevitable cynicism, so have a read of this: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/type/chrome/
  • He has also cleared up the Terms and Conditions mistake here: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-chrome-license-agreement/
  • To summarise Matt:
    • Google aren't displaying ads on Chrome
    • Google aren't doing this to collect all your data (although an early version of the Terms and Conditions seemed to suggest this) 
    • Google just want people to have a better experience online!
Well is really would seem that Google have more money than they know what to do with... Although I suspect the future is clearly evident for them:
 
Operating systems like Windows are more and more being replaced by browser technologies - in the future, more applications will be available for use in a browser and therefore the people who control the browsers will control end user computing... After all, you can do most things (create documents, spreadsheets, answer email, share files, post information listen to music, play games and watch videos) in a browser window now, so what is the point of the operating system??
 

Do we need another browser though? well not really, but more competition should lead to better technology, so you won't find me complaining too much... 

 
Last Updated on Friday, 05 September 2008 08:23
 

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