Google adds some polish to the web browser market
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Internet heavyweight Google has entered the web browser market and looks set to upset the dominance of the established players with the advent of Google Chrome. After a minor PR blunder with regards their terms of use now rectified, the browser has faced scrutiny of the web community and on the whole received the thumbs up.
Based on the Apple inspired open source WebKit engine we wouldn’t anticipate the browser causing the headaches that Internet Explorer has when it comes to web standards. That said it is still worth checking that your website displays properly so we would suggest downloading it and trying it from:
Whilst not necessarily groundbreaking the product does boast some nice features such as a hybrid address/search bar that Google calls the Omibox, detachable tabs that can be dragged and dropped and a graphical homepage of your most visited list of websites.
With browsers now doing more than just displaying text and graphics, browser speed has become a key issue. This is one area where Chrome really scores, particularly when it comes to technologies such as JavaScript and AJAX . In fact, when it comes to comparing Chrome against market leader IE in this area it is up to 10 times faster and beats both Firefox and Opera.
The question is whether Chrome will make a real dent on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer with its 75%* share of the UK market. Surprisingly its distant cousin Safari, according to the same survey, holds a paltry 0.03%. Speed alone will not be enough win over those millions of users entrenched in IE it will require something far more radical and enticing, which is just what Google is good at. Watch out Microsoft!
*The Guardian / Nielsen Online