Less than a week after Microsoft unveiled Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 to the general public, Google announced its Chrome Web browser on its official blog. The timing could not have been more horrible for Microsoft, not just because of the threat of another major browser set to gobble up more of IE’s waning market share, but also because of the ballooning threat Google is posing to Microsoft’s viability as a company.
The beta version of Chrome was released on Tuesday. As expected, a loud buzz was heard all across the Web concerning Chrome and all it had to offer. The new, open-source browser is set to place a bigger emphasis on tabs, stability (each tab running its own endable process), speed (V8), and security (each tab is forbidden from accessing other processes running on the computer).
Chrome will also emulate a couple features found on competing browsers. It will include a starting page similar to Opera’s Speed Dial page, giving users simple access to the user’s most visited sites and search engines, in addition to recently bookmarked and visited pages. The page will display up to nine thumbnail shots of these sites.
The Google-backed browser will also give users the option of opening up a tab that does not keep track of his/her activities there. This is similar to IE 8’s feature, which some affectionately call “porn mode.”
The timing is a bit peculiar, given that Google extended its partnership with Mozilla just before it officially announced Chrome’s pending launch into the public realm. For Google, this deal extension (which keeps Google as the browser’s default search engine) as well as Chrome’s unveiling (which will do the same) will further solidify its search engine’s dominance on the Web. For Mozilla’s Firefox, Chrome is likely to be a disruptor and an open-source ally against IE.
In the bigger picture, Google’s Chrome browser could have deeper implications that extend beyond the browser wars. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch goes as far as to call Chrome “Google’s Windows Killer.”
Many of Google’s supposedly killer applications and unveilings have fallen short of their hype. Chrome is quite large in its stature and the potential shadow it could cast on the browser arena alone is enough to keep interests high. The potential it has to disturb Microsoft (even further) makes it even more fascinating.
Sources:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/01/no-joke-google-introduces-its-own-browser-with-a-cartoon/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/01/meet-chrome-googles-windows-killer/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10029914-2.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007645.html
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=0020006M812W
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/09/01/google-and-firefox-together-until-2011
Jason Hahn
e: jhahn221@gmail.com
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