The big news in the computing world this week was Google’s unexpected announcement of a new web browser, Chrome (www.google.com/chrome).
The first question that many people had, including David Pogue of the New York times, was “Does the world really need an other Web browser?” Well, Google’s answer is likely that the web is evolving into a place where more than information is being shared. Now websites also serve applications (such as Google Docs) to people’s web browsers. And with Chrome, Google set out to build a browser that’s a platform for running Web applications in addition to being an information viewer.
While other browsers allow applications to run, they were not designed to optimize this process, and so they are getting more and more inefficient as applications get more complex. Chrome is designed to run application code faster and it is integrated with Google Gears, which is a system that allows you to run web-based applications when you are offline.
Chrome is in a public test phase (beta), and it does have compatibility problems with some sites. Many sites simply don’t recognize the browser’s existence yet, but this should change fast, as Google is a powerful player in the web arena that sites don’t want to ignore. Also, Chrome will be open source, and so individuals should be able to add functionality to the browser. Chrome was built using open source code from the WebKit rendering engine used by Apple’s Safari and fromMozilla’s Firefox, which is open source as well, so its inner-workings will have similarities to those browsers.
So, how do professional reviewers feel about the browser? PCmag.com says that Chrome has one of the simplest download and install process they’ve ever seen, which makes checking it out very easy. However, they also say that they don’t yet see a compelling reason to switch to Chrome for your everyday browsing. PCworld.com says that some individuals may be worried about Google’s privacy practices and how much of your data it shares with advertisers. As they say “Google will now have total control over your experience from the time you open Chrome to the time you shut down.” Lastly, the NYtimes.com says that “you should do exactly what Microsoft, Apple and the Firefox folks will all be doing: try it out and keep your eye on it.” My feeling is that if Chrome runs web-based applications better than its competitors, it will become a very popular browser. It will also be interesting to see how Google integrates its other web-based offerings with the browser – this integration could also affect Chrome’s value and popularity.