Google Chrome: Another web browser
September 2, 2008
There has been a lot of talk in the past about Google bringing about a browser, a lot of it was thought to be rumours but when Google released their comic book a couple of days ago detailing all the great features their secret web browser was going to have, it certainly got the blogosphere, experts and me interested. As a web designer I hate having to design a site and then code it so that it works in the three biggest browsers, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari so now we have to add another browser to test in - wrong - Google Chrome is built on webkit, the same as Safari, so no real problems for designers, so it has my approval already.
The new browser is to be released tomorrow on Windows and is real evidence that Google wants rid of Microsoft and will do whatever it takes, they have built a browser that is better than any other browser, especially Microsft’s Internet Explorer (doesn’t take much work but hey 
), and that functions similarly to an operating system making it extremely fast and opening new doors for bigger and better online applications, and with Google Gears you can eradicate the need for Windows altogether, it’s not at that stage yet but it will be soon. The new browser has a lot of technical stuff going on making it fast, reliable, safe and easy to use. It has an omnibar which is an intelligent address bar showing you the pages you have been to, popular relevant pages, searches etc.
I am looking forward to the release tomorrow as many people are, in the meantime if you want more information, I suggest you go over and read the great comic book they put together giving you all the details of the new browser, it really shows off Google’s marketing skills, instead of a boring press release - a nice comic book that everyone can understand. You can read the comic book or look at the pretty pictures here.
lexor (lolzlolz)
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
personally i think that they should have just given support to firefox and not tried making a new browser, firefox is good enough at competing an it is in my opinion an all around bad idea….
Simon North
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
The idea of the new browser is that they have rebuilt it from the very bottom, they have introduced things that aren’t available in FF and as a result it is extremely fast. I think its about time we had another browser who could really move the browser forward, they have big plans in making the web browser the OS of the future, something that has been discussed in the past but no other browser had the potential, Google Chrome and Gears is the starting point of that becoming a reality.
lexor (lolzlolz)
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Maybe…. I still think that OSes will never be replaced most likely because people will always want to play games and several other reasons, however i guess rebuilding from the top should help things quite a bit
i’ll try it i guess, however I still think they could have just supported firefox because frankly if the web were an os then lots of businesses would die because they couldn’t build their small programs for the web…. o well seems like an ok idea i guess
Stuart
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I’ve testing all day Chrome, and sorry but i dont think the 70% of IE users will make the switch.
First, Chrome is almost a copy of Firefox 3, Opera, Safari and IE8 star functions. It adds nothing new, and it uses really a lot of memory….
To copy the incognito browsing from IE8 and Safari, the Speed Dial from Opera, is building a browser from scrach? And the problems that have been detected with forms and online editors are not a good way to start. Its far from beating Firefox 3, and even Opera or IE8. The number one concern…. the excessive use of memory, and the fact it brings nothing really new.
Pedro
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm
After using it i still prefer FF, Opera, and IE7. I really don’t see the necessity of yet another look a like browser. Sure, it has its own task manager (IE8 also has it), and the application shortcut. But really, is it the time for another browser? I think Google should have waited a little bit more, Chrome is too similar to the main browsers out there.