Google is about to release a new browser today called “Google Chrome”. This is pretty exciting for me as I’ve toyed with browsers since using Mosaic in 1995 in my computer science lab. This is hotly anticipated to be one of the big launches since Firefox hit the scene - so I’ll be keenly interested to see how this browser works gathering from what they’ve put up on their Comic strip?! I know - I don’t know why they did it either - but it’s fun to read. Here’s some of the key features in a nutshell:
- The tabs feature have their own process (multi-threaded) - very true, nothing worse than some JavaScript hanging the whole browser.
- Cleaner memory management: Nothing worst that a browser hogging up loads of memory like Firefox did (but it took 5 comic pages to explain the pros!
- It’s open source (Fully they say)
- Web Kit is the rendering engine
- Virtual Machine for JavaScript
- Re-worked user experience - i.e. tabs are now on top of the browser
- Search = Omnibox - Omniwhat you say? A search box that offers suggestions that more than just keyword suggestions to what your typing
- New tabs open by default the 9 most popular sites you visit (behaviour driven)
- Pop-ups confined to the originating tabs (I like this one!)
- Increased security - processes have limited rights
- Harmful sites list - available as a public API woo!
- Google will save us - I’m kidding, some sarcasm to bring you back to reality
All-in-all it sounds great. I’m curious though, with improvements such as having a VM machine for JavaScript in this browser - is it really leaning towards better browser experience or more IE type experience where essentially Google will be guiding the users and developers into having to write more specific markup/code to suit this browser yet again? I hope not as it all sounds very cool and very good long term … let’s see who will end up leading the industry in tech terms (browser usage still learns heavily towards IE at approximately 80% - according to the BBC news website)
Anyways, can’t wait to check it out!
More references: Techcrunch Google Blog BBC news dot.life (BBC news tech blog)
What about YOUR rights on Google Chrome?
I’m referring to the ‘Terms of Service’
“By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the services and may be revoked for certain services as defined in the additional terms of those services.” This is from a ‘Whats Your’s is Mine’ article at themoderatevoice.com
When you submit information on your medical,financial or ANY forms you also are submitting it to Google.And it looks like they can do anything with it that they want.
Fortunately, Google seems to have corrected this apparent oversight ;)
Read more at the BBC news website.
Chrome looks promising but it still has a far way to go before it beats competitions. No support for extensions or plugins is the real let down.
My first reaction was “great, yet another browser we have to test”, but after reading more about it, sounds pretty cool. As you know I run Linux so I can’t actually try it out…
PS: Alex invited me out for lunch with you, what ever happened to that? : /
I was going to write a follow-up on my experiences with Chrome, but since there are so many articles popping up everywhere - I can’t be bothered. I’d only be repeating what other people have been saying. So yes, I agree about the lack of extension / plugin support. But it’s early days, and for a beta version - I think it’s pretty solid. It only crashed twice. Once fully, and the other time just the tab (as it’s supposed to).
It’s quick and nimble and well, it needs more add-on’s. It’s already my main browser.
Lunch? Alex didn’t mention about that? But I did see you and Deiter in Carrfour Rama IV a few weeks back. We shouted at you guys, but you didn’t hear us as you went up the escalator! Next time dude!