I’m sure you must have been hiding under a full sized meteorite yesterday if somehow the release of Google Chrome went passed you. Who knows you might even be surfing this very page with your brand new shiny browser… Its been all over the web and even on the news (On the "radio thing") they were talking about the one million downloads Chrome had received. But … what does it mean.
Google Chrome is a sign of the times that the days of "offline computing" are numbered. The very philosophy behind the browser is to offer a rock solid browser you can use when working with web-based applications ( For example : Google Docs , Gmail etc) This way of thinking points out that applications like "google docs" or any other online application are beyond the state of ‘a gadget" but are seen as real competitors for off-line programs, thus demanding a stable browser to run them in. The web 2.0 with its web application is, together with a rock solid browser environment, a serious competition for any localy installed application.
As a netbook user, "cloud computing" is a thing I do every day. Gmail, Google Apps for domains, Flickr, My online calendar, Facebook, Meebo and what have you. There is not a lot I cannot do in a browser, so having a stable platform to do it all would certainly be appreciated. Firefox does a great job, but does like to nibble away at my memory once a while. But the fact that I have a lot of extentions to choose from make Firefox one of my favorite browsers.
Would I Use Google Chrome ?
I have downloaded it, played with it and have given it a good look over. So far its fast, its simple and there is not a lot I really hate about it. But thats about it. Its still very new and very fresh. For one : We don"t know the security risks yet (it has only been "out there" for a day) and it does not offer me the fancy extensions that Firefox does. So I don’t see it as a browser, I see Chrome as a "platform" to my Google environment (like Adobe Air is a platform for some applications) Why only the Google side of my life ? Well because they KNOW everything about me there anyway. But to go out and surf the web on a Google browser.. hmm.. I don’t know if I want to do that (I never let Google tie my searches to my account data) I"m not sure what the privacy policy is in Chrome, but I’ll pass for now.
So in the end.
Google Chrome to me, is another competitor for IE, offering a stable alternative to access web based content. It is a lightweight competitor for Firefox for those who don’t use a lot of extentions. In all ? its something new. Beware it DOES come from the "big bad google" and we are giving away another snippet of our privacy .. But we all knew privacy died years ago.