You know what ZDNet needs? More articles about Chrome! 12 over the last 24 hours just isn't enough so why not add to that number.
Chrome isn't taking over anything because its terribly broken. It doesn't render pages correctly, the back button doesn't work, and security holes have already been found. This is the shoddy work you can expect from Google when their employees sit around playing with office toys all day. Until they learn to code I don't see this project going much further and more than likely will be cancelled in 6 months.
Five reasons Chrome will take over the world
Summary
Google dipped its mighty toe into the increasingly crowded world of internet browsers today with the announcement of its open source offering, Chrome.
Topics
After all the polished promises of a streamlined new way to tame the web, the blogosphere was ready to predict Chrome would inspire everything from the end of Firefox to the demise of Microsoft itself.
silicon.com spoke to industry experts and Google's new rivals to find out why Chrome matters and whether the browser reality can deliver on the hype.
Bye bye Microsoft
Chrome carries shades of an OS in a browser's clothing and Google's latest encroachment on Redmond's turf must have a few Microsoft execs sweating.
The way Chrome will allow users to run and manage applications without an OS' intervention could mean the beginning of the end for the days of Vista's bloatware.
David Mitchell, VP for IT research at analysts Ovum, said: "What you are seeing is the language of the browser coming very close to that of the operating system, with services provided at the browser level rather than the OS level.
"If some of the OS functionality is within the browser then there will be a demand for a more anorexic OS running underneath.
"It is a big step towards telling people like Microsoft that they are not so popular after all."
Google-branded life
Chrome will provide a central point for the company's panoply of services and applications, offering a hub to consolidate everything from Google Maps and Docs to Gmail and Shopping.
Google already has millions of users on Google Apps - applications from calendaring to video, all hosted on its cloud computing infrastructure, and a Google branded browser is an obvious way to persuade even more users to start experimenting with the company's other web-based offerings.
Nate Elliott, research director at analysts Jupiter Research, said: "This is not a new idea, they have had the Google toolbar for four to five years with the idea of driving users towards their products and services. Now you will have what is a far bigger and better version of the toolbar to drive users towards those services."
Consumer love-in
Google has proved to be a master of wooing consumers, charming new users by offering free versions of traditionally paid-for services.
With 70 per cent of the world's web searches going through Google's search engine, the company has built up a brand awareness so strong that the verb 'to Google' is already part of the lexicon. It's this popularity that could give Chrome a headstart and quickly turn it into a contender.
Google's history of consumer-pleasing and unfussy design--think of its sparse, ad-free homepage--could serve Chrome well. Jupiter Research's Elliott said: "Google products are typically very easy to use and very consumer friendly.
"They focus extremely heavily on this relationship and everything that they do keeps consumers in mind."
Tor Odland, head of communications for rival browser Opera, said: "They have a massive footprint and Google will probably be more successful than another company trying this because of that."
No more lock-ups
It might sound trivial but the ability to kill individual tabs within Chrome could spell the end of the hair-tearing frustration of a single rogue web page bringing the entire browser crashing down.
Not only that but the way the browser will run every tab in an isolated "sandbox" can help provide better protection from malicious sites.
Ovum's Mitchell said: "Each tab is attached to a separate process and can be managed separately.
"It is a bit like what Window NT offered in terms of stability. Most of the current generation of browsers would crash if there was a badly behaved tab but Chrome can quit the tab and it will still work."
Microsoft too is working on the ability to kill a tab and still save the browser, with a similar feature showing up in IE8 beta 2.
If you can't beat them
Google is taking the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach with Chrome, shamelessly borrowing features from its would-be competitors.
These include the open source approach of Firefox; Opera's speed dial function, where a homepage presents thumbnails of your most visited sites; an "incognito" window for private browsing where nothing is recorded, similar to Safari and the forthcoming IE8; and an address bar with auto-completion features.
Opera's Odland said: "It is very much a market where everybody knows what everybody else is doing and you can expect Google to take innovations such as the speed dial homepage and tabs on top from Opera and vice versa."
Not convinced by Chrome? Read five reasons why it may crash and burn here...
Talkback Most Recent of 39 Talkback(s)
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Loverock Davidson3rd Sep 2008 -
Five reasons
Maybe you didn't notice that Chrome is in "Beta"... But why let the realities of software development interfere with a knee-jerk rant from a Microsoft shill.
subl33t3rd Sep 2008 -
More like Alpha
and that is being generous. But you fell for the Google trap of calling everything beta when an issue crops up. Heaven forbid they actually take responsibility and make a product or service that is worth using. Friggin Google shill!Loverock Davidson3rd Sep 2008 -
I've been using it for almost a full day
and I haven't seen any of the issues you mentioned. The people I work for are standardize on IE 6 and half the time I can't use that at yahoo among many other sites, talk about crapware. And how long has the IE crapware been around?
GoPower3rd Sep 2008 -
he's full of it...
i'm on my 2nd full day and i haven't had one issue. it
doesn't seem like beta at all, it seems more like an
RC.
lostarchitect5th Sep 2008 -
what is Alpha?
One thing I learned in Journalism class in college is to never assume your reader knows what you do.
In your case... what's Alpha?
All I can think of is the DEC Alpha processor, but then I've been around awhile.
AtlantaTerry6th Sep 2008 -
Alpha - the meaning of
Alpha in this context could mean 'dominant' or 'leader' or 'genuine' in the sense of being the real one rather than a 'beta' version. In a pack of dogs, th 'alpha' male is the leader.
In the Greek alphabet 'alpha' = 'a' an In Greek numbers 'alpha' = 1. So in this case it could mean 'number one' or 'best'.
The_Pet_Directory11th Oct 2008 -
or could simply mean...
Alpha Version .. like the one before Beta Version .. which is the first implementation of a developers thought.
Meaning it's full of bugs since it hasn't been tested thoroughly.
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and to ppl that judged the guy who said it's full of bugs: it was released in many subversions and they were fixing bugs day by day. so ur versions differ.
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my humble opinion: google actually desperately follows microsoft's steps. trying to get a piece of everything. they forgot what "focus" is. at least MS is doing it right.
whatever the case i'm sticking to linux and firefox.
lort2k24th Aug 2009 -
Broken?
Must be an MS employee or fan boy. In a true competitive
market, where the product either lives or dies by its attractiveness
to the consumer and its relative price, (perceived value) and not
by any other forces such as threat, intimidation via market monopoly. (Mr PC manufacturer install my product or else???)
How does MS fare in this kind of (customer oriented)
marketplace? What about Zune or X Box? Does not the ones
who give the customer what they want succeed? Google will as
always tweak the product for maximum attractiveness to the
consumer, that's how they get market share. A similar product
model (but not business model) to Apple.
bigpicture3rd Sep 2008 -
Article is not about MS
You are a Google employee! Tell your bosses I said Chrome sucks! The market will choose, and so far they are not choosing Chrome. As a matter of fact there has been more negative things to say about Chrome than positive. What do your bosses think about that? And if you are expecting Google to update anything good luck on waiting, be sure to hold your breath on it too. Their employees do not like to work or program, this is why every Google product and service is in beta.Loverock Davidson3rd Sep 2008 -
Buuuuh??
I've been testing this thing all day, and so far it's
doing great. It renders our internal pages and
Sharepoints, it's fast, and clean, and most of all,
elegant.
Granted, I'm technically inclined, but I don't foresee
people NOT being able to use this out of the box. The
test will be to install it on my wife's machine, and
see what she thinks. She has a habit of installing
questionable apps and BHO's on her copy of IE, you
see.
As for the market... it's been 'out' for all of a day,
and it's free. Did you seriously expect this to jump
to the top of the Browser Wars leaderboard already?
By the vitriol in your post, sir, I would turn your
accusation around, and venture to say you either work
for Microsoft and are crying DOOM! to warn people away
from something that will kill your paycheck, OR you
are working in an IE-only environment and are
perfectly happy to dance to the "IE is best" hurdy-
gurdy.
dcnblues3rd Sep 2008 -
who said anything about Microsoft? but i have to say
who said anything about Microsoft? but i have to say you don't know squat about the zune.
i would all so say you don't know how people chose the things they buy. i had an ipod and had nothing but problems with it. then you add in all the security issues with the crap they all quick time and itunes. made me choose another player.
it beats me how someone who has never used something can say it's crap it's crap. buy one use it awhile and then comeback and you will have an informed opinion. other than that your just spouting off empty quoits from websites you read. on the xbox i would think the 20 or so million users would disagree with you. but thats nether here nor there.
as far as google go's it all ways amazes me how people are like sheep google apps has just as many issues as apple software or windows software or Linux software. chrome is still in beta so i'll give them a pass. when a product is in beta it will work well on some systems and not on others. my problem with google taking over the world is. everything if fine and dandy till google decides to lock you out of your stuff. you might say well they will get it fixed. well thats all fine and good if you do not need the presentation for a meeting that day. the cloud is nothing more than the web 2.0 renamed. the local desktop is not going anywhere soon. i wish google luck with this new browser. i am sure the things google adds to chrome will soon be ported over to firefox to. so why not wait and see how chrome turns out. it might be a hit and it might be a bomb.
SO.CAL Guy4th Sep 2008 -
Google - Welcome back to Web 1.0
Chrome is still a Web 1.0 client app. Where's the web-based browser?
(Netbooks will then make sense.)
LetterRep.com3rd Sep 2008 -
Long Live Chrome!
Chrome is great, and it is just getting started! Instead of Microsoft bloat, we can have efficiency. Given a little time, Chrome will no doubt be a serious contender in the browser market.
chessmen3rd Sep 2008 -
RE: Five reasons Chrome will take over the world
chrome is like silk
BUT, there is always a but, let the dust settle and
see what the 5th column would say and do (i.e hackers
and malware writers). In my mind they are the real
acid-test for any browser.
Again, from outside, Chrome runs like silk.
One thing, what is the acronym for Chrome?
FF=fire fox, IE=Internet explorer and Chrome?
I guess it will be GC = Google Chrome
iglooo1013rd Sep 2008
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