posted on September 1, 2008 05:51:16 PM new
A fresh take on the browser
9/01/2008 02:10:00 PM
At Google, we have a saying: "launch early and iterate." While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries.
So why are we launching Google Chrome? Because we believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web.
All of us at Google spend much of our time working inside a browser. We search, chat, email and collaborate in a browser. And in our spare time, we shop, bank, read news and keep in touch with friends -- all using a browser. Because we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if we started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build.
On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff -- the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.
Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today's complex web applications much better. By keeping each tab in an isolated "sandbox", we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers.
This is just the beginning -- Google Chrome is far from done. We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust.
We owe a great debt to many open source projects, and we're committed to continuing on their path. We've used components from Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox, among others -- and in that spirit, we are making all of our code open source as well. We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the web forward.
The web gets better with more options and innovation. Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the web even better.
So check in again tomorrow to try Google Chrome for yourself. We'll post an update here as soon as it's ready.
Posted by Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, engineering director
posted on September 1, 2008 06:32:10 PM new
It sounds exciting. Funny isn't it? When eBay talks about changes, I shudder. When Google talks about change, I get excited.
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posted on September 1, 2008 07:37:33 PM new
I love Google, it IS clean, fast and returns the most relevant items first in my search. Unlike eBay, when I get a "did you mean ****?", they are usually right.
posted on September 2, 2008 11:13:53 AM newQuite a contrast from the unspoken eBay promise which is "cumbersome, slow and forever in your face and your business
posted on September 2, 2008 11:56:44 AM new
As a person who did some programming and design work in the past on large systems,what happens is that you design a new system with all the intentions of doing good and then as time goes by,things change,either the business environment you operate in changes,or technology forces you to adapt and make changes or worse there are flaws in your design which start to surface so you start making changes,a patch here and a patch there is never as efficient as starting a new slate.
You see it now not just with Ebay,but AMZN and AOL,of course MSFT windows and IE with millions of lines of code.
It is too early to tell how good or bad Chrome will be.
,
*
Gulag-a Soviet era concentration camp is now reincarnated as EBAY with 13,000 rules.
posted on September 2, 2008 12:59:24 PM new
I've downloaded and it's fast. I am so used to using Firefox tabs that I can't quite figure out how to do that on Chrome - but so far, so good. It imported everything Firefox.
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posted on September 2, 2008 01:17:15 PM new
I am getting the hang of it - still can use my tabbed browsing (good). The font is really tiny when you first open a page (easily adjusted with the ctrl+ keys).
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posted on September 2, 2008 01:53:11 PM new
Chrome vs. Exploder, are you KIDDING hwahwa? Are you telling me there are still people who use Exploder? Come on.....why would anyone do something like that on purpose.
I'm leery about Chrome until I get a satisfactory explanation that Goog isn't doing their usual tracking business or if they are that there are ways to opt out. The way gmail throws up ads that are keyworded to your emails is just plain creepy.
posted on September 2, 2008 02:19:52 PM new
Slightly over 50% of all web browsers are still Internet Explorer. (26.0% on IE7 and 24.5% on IE6)
Stats located here:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
As with all browsers, im sure ads will still be generated with some attempt to relate to content found on the currently viewed page.
Note that you can check your gmail with an external pop3 client, so your not subjected to any of the web based advertising. (go to the settings menu, then click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.)
Ive been using it for a bit now, and its not bad. I haven't noticed anything yet that doesn't work as it should but as others have mentioned its a little weird getting used to the tabs way at the top of the window. I like the firefox layout for this better, but Chrome certainly seems faster than FF at this point. (although not much quicker than Apple's Safari, although Chrome seems to load quicker upon initial launch.)
Regards,
Chris
[ edited by ChristopherCS on Sep 2, 2008 02:23 PM ]
posted on September 2, 2008 02:41:23 PM new
I don't think they have "autofill" - this is a big timesaver when filling out Custom Item Specifics. I also NEED it to remember my various user names when signing in on some sites.
Also, I use the pull down history on Firefox to go back to an exact page (I use it mostly when I using Vendio "postsale - unsold" to archive items I have launched that are past the ebay 90-day window.) The Google version refreshes the page or clears off my checkmarks so the page I see is not the exact page I want to see.
The CTRL-F is located at a weird place - took me awhile to find it
I don't like the blue color of the tabs - too hard to read.
But the thing is FAST and doesn't seem to get hung up as much as Firefox
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posted on September 5, 2008 07:10:03 AM new
Michael Malone has a very sinister (almost paranoid) view of Chrome - he fears Goggle is trying to become "Big Brother" and own all data on the internet.
