Google in browser business

Hoss

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I found this and thought it was interesting.


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. As we believe in access to information for everyone, we've now made the comic publicly available -- you can find it here. 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.

Update @ 3:30 PM: We've added a link to our comic book explaining Google Chrome.

Posted by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management, and Linus Upson, Engineering Director
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Signals

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Thanks for the heads up Hoss, I'm going to give Chrome a spin this week.
 

Tusan_Homichi

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I've been giving Chrome a try all evening and it's really nice. It's extremely fast and has only what you need in it.
 

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Ozzu;2231063 said:
I've been giving Chrome a try all evening and it's really nice. It's extremely fast and has only what you need in it.
I like it too. The new/home tab with the nine most recent sites visited reminds me of fire foxes thumb nail view, only more convenient.

Also the way it separates the activity and memory of each tab so if java in one tab hangs, it does freeze and crash the whole browser, just that one tab. I like Chrome as much if not more than Firefox. I also like the intuitiveness of the address bar and Chrome has allowed me to reclaim about an inch to an inch & a half of my screen.

I spent about 45 minutes reading the developers illustrated book last night and Chrome does everything they said and very efficiently.

Sites heavy on graphics load faster on my machine than with firefox.

The primary reason I will continue to use FF is because I have the video download helper add-on that allows me to snag you tube and other media to my hard drive.

Chrome gets a big thumbs up from me.

:)
 

Duane

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Same for me StarKist. I could see it being my default browser if the security is up to par with Firefox.
 

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Duane;2231246 said:
Same for me StarKist. I could see it being my default browser if the security is up to par with Firefox.
I believe the security may be even better than FF. If you go and read the 35 page illustrated book by the developers they go into details about the security features of Chrome.

The more I use it the more I like it.

The address bar doubles as a search box. As you begin to type in the address bar, if nothing in your history resembles your query, it automatically gives you a search option based of your default search engine. No more separate search box in your browser necessary.
 

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Another great thing about Chrome I didn't mention before is it reclaims the area's where the browser title bar is. For example, firefox and IE, at the very top of your browser you have their name and logo with the minimize/maximize/close buttons and dead space in between. Chrome uses that area for your tabs.
 

Tusan_Homichi

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Another good thing is that it's multi-threaded. So if a site has a really slow javascript or something, your browser won't just stall out waiting for it. It'll load the rest of the page.

Plus, if a tab stops responding, it will only take that tab down. The browser stays up.

It's a nice piece of software.
 

Hoss

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one thing I don't like is the bookmark....I imported my FF bookmarks, you have to hit the bookmark button, then click "imported bookmarks", then it opens them. Maybe there is a shorter way to access them and I just have not found it yet.
 

dargonking999

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Google and its monopolistic approach to the internet is getting real old. I do not doubt this will be a browser that will compete with Microsoft and Firefox, but still the underlying monopolistic drive that google has, can be overlooked. In a few years we will be talking about a google computer, google OS. Google will be the new Microsoft before long.
 

Hoss

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its googles answer to IE....they put out a comic book style"ad" explaining what Chrome does and what features it incorporates
 

masomenos

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Ozzu;2231063 said:
I've been giving Chrome a try all evening and it's really nice. It's extremely fast and has only what you need in it.

Really? It's mind numbingly slow for me.
 

MrMom

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chrome_subbenchmark_png.PNG
 

bbgun

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Played around with it for an hour. Didn't notice any difference in speed compared to FF. Also, does it have a "no flashing ads" add-on like FF does? Those are really annoying.
 
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