It’s hard to believe that it has almost been a year since Google Chrome first burst upon the scene but in that time the browser has seen improvements and very soon even Mac users will have their own version of the browsers.

While Chrome is still dwarfed by the other browsers there is a very good chance that it will break through the 5% marker according to internet analytics firm Clicky. As Alex Wilhelm at The Next Web notes in a post to mark this event “garnering nearly one twentieth of the browser market in just a year is no small feat”.

It will be interesting to see just what effect on the numbers a release of a Mac native version of Chrome. I’m betting considering all the talk I have seen on happening amongst Mac users I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chrome’s user numbers get close to the 8% mark.

image credit: The Next Web

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1. Chrome Releases Third Beta — Competitors Excited?
2. Chrome Starting to Lose Steam
3. Google enters the Operating System market with Chrome OS

A blogger reading about Chrome noticed a bit of AdSense fail, for Google’s own product.

[Source: Intershame]

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I have been using Chrome since the first day that the beta made its way to the web and I haven’t regretted it at all. In fact I wouldn’t want to use any other browser so it was nice to see that a new finalized version for this great browser has been released.

Among some of the stats that Google has provided with this release

• They’ve improved the Javascript performance by more than 150% since the first beta was released (very nice)
• Since Chrome 2 they’ve increased the Javascript performance by 25% (even nicer)
• There has been over 3,000 bugfixes in this release ( thank you !)

But most importantly for some is the theme support that is finally built-in to this release of Chrome. Once you’ve updated to the new version just click on the Options menu item and then select the Personal Stuff tab. At the bottom you will see the button to click to have Chrome display the Themes page.

As you can see there are some 29 themes currently available, including the original Chrome theme. Installing one of the themes is a simple as clicking on the Apply theme button and you are done. Myself I went with the Glossy Blue theme.

One of the other changes I’ve just noticed as well is that the layout for the New Tab page has changed as well.

Related posts:

1. Chrome Releases Third Beta — Competitors Excited?
2. Chrome numbers continues to climb
3. Why Mozilla should be afraid of Google Chrome

There is no denying the fact that Google is a big believer in cloud computing and web based software. In fact much of their future growth is built on the principal of getting as many people as possible using their software whether it be Google search, Gmail or their Google Docs suite of office type programs. This of course is putting them in direct competition with Microsoft which means it has had to find different ways to get their software in the hands of consumers.

One of the principal ways that they have done this is to use the same tactic that Apple and Microsoft have been using for years – hit the colleges and universities. The first prong of their attach started over two years ago with them making the education providers an offer they couldn’t really refuse in a climate of growing IT costs. Google would provide them unlimited hosted email and other applications all of which would be branded by the institution for the price of – free.

With things like their browser, a possible operating system, and the in development Google Wave being added to this package Google has a chance to become an ingrained part of the student’s lives as they move from school to the business world. Right now Google is already providing services to some 4 million students and is providing serious competition to Microsoft for access to 17 million students on the more than 4,000 campuses in the US.

The campus push is part of Google’s broader bid to breed a generation of workers comfortable with the concept of "cloud" computing, and particularly Google’s version of it, where Google provides free web-based services in exchange for advertising dollars. "We want to build relationships with these users for life," said Jeff Keltner, Google’s business development manager for the program.

Source: Business Insider – Google’s 17 Million Built-in Chrome OS Users (GOOG)

The ability to offer colleges and universities a way to save millions of dollars a year in IT costs is making Google an almost irresistible force for these institutions while at the same time creating a constantly refreshing generation of Google users.

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There were, and still are, a lot of naysayers about Microsoft’s recent reworking of its search offering and subsequent launch of Bing. Its impact on the whole search business was never expected to be earth shattering but it has surprised more than a few by gaining percentage points. One can’t be sure if it will continue to grow or not but it showed that the company can indeed shake things up.

As I was reading a post on Technologizer by Harry McCracken about the slipping of Internet Explorer’s market share it got me thinking about the same thing I had written about in the past when it came to search. In a post on my home blog back in January 2007 where I suggested that if Microsoft wanted to make headway in search it was time they started a search skunkworks project.

The idea was of putting together a very small core group of developers and keep the marketing department as far away as possible in the hopes that they could build something new and fresh. While they didn’t go that route with Bing they came pretty close and I think that they should do exactly the same thing when it comes to Internet Explorer.

End of the line

In effect I would suggest that IE8 should be the last Internet Explorer. Any browser from Microsoft that comes after should be a completely new beast with a new name, a whole new frame of mind. I say this because the Internet Explorer name has way too much negative ‘emotional’ baggage that is being carted along version to version. The only reason that IE has any placement on the desktop anymore is because it comes with the operating system.

Other than those wanting to test out each new version so they can write negative posts about it, or diehard IE users looking to upgrade. Hell I was a diehard IE user for years. Sure, I tried out Firefox (never have liked it), Opera, Safari and Chrome. It is the last one that finally got me away from IE and chances are I won’t go back; and I’m not alone. As McCracken points out in his post

But I assume that Microsoft would prefer to not only stop the bleeding but to get IE growing again. The only way that’ll happen is if users of other Windows browsers–Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari–switch to IE in measurable quantities.

What are the chances of that happening? Slim, I think. For Windows users, running anything other than IE represents a conscious decision to use a browser other than the default one their OS came with. Typical users of Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari-for-Windows users all seem to be dedicated fans of their browser of choice. And once you’ve found a browser you’re comfortable with, the incentive to stick with it is high. For all these reasons, any version of IE is going to need to be strikingly different and better to lure expatriates back.

Why a skunkworks project?

One of the biggest problems that Microsoft has created for itself is that because of the ingrained nature of Windows and IE their software has to be backward compatible to the point that it becomes a bloated mess of code. If they were to start fresh it would have to be with the internal understanding that this is a complete fresh start – no dragging any code from IE forward. If they were to do this and word got out I think you would see a lot of corporate businesses become worried because of the in-house investment they have in using IE.

This in turn could exert pressure on Microsoft to re-consider and that would kill any chance of a fresh start. Make no mistake Microsoft has to do something when it comes to a browser. Internet Explorer is becoming an albatross around their neck and will continue to lose ground in the browser world.

So any initial work on a new browser would have to be done very quietly. There are a lot of people who would question whether or not Microsoft could do something like this on the quiet but just look at Windows 7 and Bing to see that they can do it. We might have known Windows 7 was coming but unlike previous versions of the operating system next to nothing was known about it until Sinofsky said so. We might have been hearing something about Kumo, the codename for Bing, but we didn’t find out much about it until they were ready.

Time to send Trident to the bottom of the ocean

Now assuming for the sake of discussion Microsoft did decide to take the plunge and work on a completely new browser. The first thing I would suggest doing is to ditch the Trident rendering engine at least as far as the browser is concerned. They have been using Trident for as long as there has been an IE but I would strongly suggest that they switch to using WebKit as the basis for the browser.

I suggest this for a couple of reasons. As I wrote previously one of these reasons is

If you consider that by moving to the WebKit engine Microsoft would be giving an incredible boost to an open source product as well the number of developers that would begin getting involved in making the engine better is huge. Consider that in this case WebKit would now be the default rendering engine being used in IE, Safari and Chrome – that means a shitload of developers are now available to improve the common engine. It would also leave Firefox out on its own and with it’s mortal enemy IE able to claim open source and compliance rights thereby taking away the major arguing point Firefox has for getting new users.

The effects of this kind of move would be a big public relations plus for the company. Microsoft has already been making moves to be a part of the open source movement but this would be a big step forward that would get a lot of people talking.

And that is one oft he other reasons why a move to using WebKit would be a key idea. The buzz that would surround the company as they launched a totally new browser based on the same open standards as two other major browsers would be immense. McCracken asked in his post what it would take for people to move to a Microsoft browser and stem the flow of people moving to other browsers as well as bring in new users. Well I think some thing like this would definitely fit the bill as an answer to his question.

Wrapping up

Internet Explorer (any version) is a pig with a lot of bad press surrounding it and I don’t believe that IE 8 or any future version of Internet Explorer will do anything to change that perception. I realize that any chance of anything I have suggested coming to fruition is probably never going to happen. It is also obvious that the company is losing market share in the browser world and that is something it can’t afford to let happen. Unfortunately I just don’t see Internet Explorer, now and the road forward, ever being able to turn things around.

Related posts:

1. Internet Explorer Loses More Ground While Other Browsers Grow
2. Mozilla should be thanking Microsoft for bundling IE not kissing EU’s butt
3. Microsoft’s IE needs the slap Google’s Chrome Frame supplies.

I’ve been stewing over this bucketful of crap about the European Union wanting to give Microsoft the good old underhanded grab because Opera is whining about how it can’t get any market share away from Microsoft because of Internet Explorer being shipped as part of the Windows OS. Then Mozilla decides that ya that sounds like a great idea and jumps on the EU bandwagon like a bunch of whiney little brats. Now today Google decides is doesn’t want to be left out of any parties so it petitions to join in on the anti-trust case.

Sorry but the whole argument that Microsoft has a monopoly on the browser market because it ships IE with Windows is nothing short of bullshit – plain and simple. The idea behind a monopoly is that Company ‘A’ has a complete stranglehold on a segment of the market that not a single competitor has a chance to gain customers away from them.

Well excuse me all to hell but perhaps nobody is paying attention to the numbers in this lala-land but tell me the name of the one company that has been losing browser market share over the past year.

C’mon .. it’s not hard. Hell just Google for it and the numbers are there for those that aren’t frikken blind.

The only company to see its numbers go down; and no Opera you don’t count anymore, is Microsoft. Mozilla’s Firefox has continually climbed with numbers of  anywhere between 20% to 30% being commonly tossed around. Even Google’s Chrome in its short life has been taking away users from Internet Explorer so what the hell do they have to bitch about. Then we have Apple’s Safari browser which is also showing strong gains, and speaking of Safari if the big whine point everyone has against Microsoft is that they ship their own browser with their own operating system how come Apple is getting a pass?

The fact is that the browser market is one of the strongest ones out there as far as software is concerned. All the players – the serious ones anyway – hard pushing hard and producing great products. Firefox continues to grow but is facing some stiff competition from both Google and Apple. As far as I am concerned this whole EU nonsense is nothing more than them trying to return to the Microsoft ATM to see if they can grab a few more billion and Microsoft’s competitors are only to willing to tag along.

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3. Internet Explorer Loses More Ground While Other Browsers Grow

That engine — called Futhark — was designed to cut down on memory usage rather than hit the highest possible speed, engineers say. Now, they’re ready to step up to the starting line and duke it out with Firefox and Chrome for the “fastest browser on the market” title. (Sorry, IE. You really just can’t compete here, not even with IE8.)

So what’s the deal with the name? “The name Carakan, like the names of Opera’s previous ECMAScript engines, Futhark, Linear A and Linear B, is the name of a writing system, or ’script,’” engineers say.

Carakan is currently being tested on a small-scale basis. Developers hope to have it released in a future Opera version as soon as they can.

You can read the full details of how the JavaScript engine differs from past versions in the Opera blog here.

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3. Oh Duncan, if Opera Unite is the future then we’re going back in time

New numbers released by Net Applications show IE dropping to 67.55 percent of the worldwide browser market. That’s 0.6 percent less than it had one month ago, and a full 7 percent less than it had in March of 2008.

Firefox, in the meantime, has steadily grown in the same time period. Mozilla’s browser now commands 21.53 percent of the market, up from 17.83 percent last March. And it’s not the only alternative product growing, either:

• Safari is now up to 8.29 percent, from 5.82 percent last March.

• Chrome is sitting at a modest 1.12 percent but showing monthly growth. (It didn’t have any users last March, as it hadn’t yet been released.)

• Opera has fluctuated around the 0.70 percent mark.

Microsoft, of course, is hoping IE 8 — which saw its first release candidate hit the Net last week — will help it regain some of its lost ground. While the browser is undoubtedly an improvement over its predecessor, I don’t see it offering anything that’ll convince other browser users to switch back.

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1. First Microsoft shook up its search – next up: Internet Explorer
2. Surprise: Chrome’s Users Coming From IE
3. Chrome Releases Third Beta — Competitors Excited?

At some point there was one thing that really started to get on my nerves. Google stuff began to remind me of the pablum I feed my two girls when they were babies. It does the job but damn its boring shit. Really .. just how much of that pale pastel blue crap can one person stomach in a day. Jeez give me break already.

Here we have machine that literally dwarf the mega machines that powered the Apollo Moon program and the best we can come up with for style is some utilitarian blandness to wrap our applications or web apps in – come on already. I’ve seen mortuaries with more friggin life in them than these Google offering and why should we be settling for this utilitarian sameness? Have we lost that interest in having the things we use on a daily basis that we don’t care if they look boring as hell?

Personally I am so sick and tired of that color blue that it wants to make me puke every time I see it. I told my wife when she gets around to redecorating that picking that colour would be grounds for divorce. So without the slightest bit of reluctance I have returned to my previous selection of programs I used even thought they might be a little heavier on resources it’s worth it to have some life back in my desktop.

The other thing that really makes me laugh is that Google apps are so popular among the Mac crowd. This is the bunch with deep roots in the artistic and style community and yet this idea of blandness is so acceptable to them. Talk about a total dichotomy.

Oh and by the way labels in Gmail isn’t all the snitz that the Gmail fanbois make them out to be.

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First, the new release: Chrome version 0.3.154.9 is expected to go out to users automatically within the “next few days,” according to a blog posted last night. It implements a substantial security fix, as well as improved Flash and Silverlight performance, touchpad scrolling support, and some changes to the interface.

Now, the counterintuitive effect: Chrome seems, at this point, to be helping the other browsers on the market. After its initial draw, recent reports show Chrome’s numbers dropping and the number of users on other browsers climbing. Opera CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner sees it as a direct effect. In an interview with GigaOM published today, von Tetzchner said the publicity surrounded Chrome essentially gave him free exposure to an audience who didn’t know his product existed.

“The effect of Chrome so far has been 20 percent more downloads every day,” he told GigaOM. “It’s fairly logical when you think about it, because the biggest hurdle we have is all those people that don’t realize there’s an alternative in the market. Now, with the launch of Chrome there’s focus on the choice of browsers in the market.”

So what’s in the cards for Chrome’s future? Our Inquisitr poll last month asked you what you thought.

• 39 percent of you believe Chrome will stick around and carve out its share of the market.
• 29 percent said it will stick around but never see widespread success.
• 32 percent said it will eventually fade into Google Lab oblivion.

To be fair, Google’s first foray into the browser world is still in beta, so we may be jumping to early judgments on its ultimate success. Then again, Gmail’s still in beta, too, and it’s doing just fine. Chrome came into a market with several popular and relatively advanced browsers, so finding a sizable userbase willing to abandon Firefox, Safari, or Opera may prove extra challenging for Google. So far, though, the team is showing no signs of giving up yet. Let’s see if their efforts pay off, or if — as a third of you predicted — Chrome vanishes into the final resting spot of so many Google projects past.

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The expanded extension, first revealed on the Google Operating System blog, is becoming available before Chrome’s official extension API has even hit the masses. In what’s sure not to be a coincidence, Greasemonkey’s creator — Aaron Boodman — happens to work at Google as a Gears engineer.

As of now, the Greasemonkey Chrome version functions only on the developer edition of Chrome. It also has to be launched by adding “–enable-greasemonkey” on to the end of a target. One wonders, though, whether the support will eventually become integrated into a future Chrome build, given Boodman’s Google connection.

The news may serve as a comfort to any Chrome users who are also frustrated with the recent iGoogle change. A Greasemonkey script is already floating around to let you remove the new left-of-screen sidebar implemented into the portal page. While developed for Firefox, the function will presumably now carry over into Chrome as well.

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3. Chrome Releases Third Beta — Competitors Excited?

The build, now scheduled for a November release, is definitely set to include the rumored private browsing mode — presumably a reaction to the same feature being touted in Google’s Chrome release last month (and already available in IE8 and Safari).

Also within the realm of privacy, Mozilla’s taking aim at its competitors with a souped-up, schedule-based data clearing service. Beta 2 will have options to let you select specific time and data ranges for deleting browsing history and the likes. Any questions of whether the move is competition-driven are put to rest by these developer notes:

“The above will clear ALL data that you selected. It would be nice if you could
define a time period of what to clear.

Google Chrome offers a ‘Clear data from this period’ dropdown where you can
select a time period of what to delete.

Default option could be ‘Everything’ with other time frame options such as
‘this session only,’ ‘last day’ etc.”

Other features discussed include an expanded address bar — now being referred to, at least internally, as the “AwesomeBar.” Some of the specifics being planned for it are (more) added privacy options and tab search options. Mozilla’s also working on adding the ability to drag-and-drop tabs in and out of windows (a la Chrome). Enhancements to the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine — which engineers have sworn will outperform Chrome’s V8 engine — are also expected in Beta 2.

Then there are some “maybes” that may or may not make the second beta. One is a “Speed Dial,” reminiscent of the option in Opera and now Chrome, that creates a custom thumbnail-driven home page based on your favorite or most frequently visited sites. Developers are looking at a couple of add-ons — one actually called Speed Dial, and another named Fast Dials — for models of what they may eventually integrate. Another interesting possibility is a “site specific functionality” menu that would give you drop-down options based on where you’re surfing — things such as forgetting passwords, showing cookies, or even zooming into the page.

So, the latest status and timeline for all things Firefox 3.1, as of now:

• Beta 1: Released next week
• Beta 2: Locked down November 4; released shortly thereafter
• Full release: Late 2008 or early 2009

In the meantime, Mozilla’s Mobile browser — codenamed Fennec — is expected to hit alpha mode within weeks. More about its development here.

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The data, from Net Applications, indicates users are reverting back to Internet Explorer and Firefox; both those browsers’ numbers have gone up slightly as Chrome’s have gone down. IE jumped 0.24 percent and Firefox 0.06 percent in the same time period. Safari, the research firm has found, has seen the least effect from Chrome’s introduction.

Interestingly, the numbers for Chrome spike the most during the night hours. It makes sense, though: As Net Applications points out, many people have no choice but to use IE at work. When they come home, they use their preferred browser. Firefox and Safari see similar effects.

Researchers suggest Google’s lackluster marketing may be to blame for the dropping share. Along those lines, it’s surprising to see that Google didn’t snatch up the Chrome branding opportunity within the new Android phone announced today. While the G1 does use a “Chrome-like” browser based on the same foundation, it does not carry the Chrome name.

Can Chrome survive? It still has a lot of growth to do as it moves closer to a non-preliminary release, so we may not have seen its full potential (or Google’s full marketing plan) just yet. Still, it has a lot of ground to gain to avoid becoming another blip on the radar of Google Labs-type products that never make it.

Which way do you think it’ll go? It’s not yet November, but this election is open. Vote below.

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1. Chrome Releases Third Beta — Competitors Excited?
2. Why Mozilla should be afraid of Google Chrome
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One might surmise that product will be Mozilla’s long-under-development mobile browser, codenamed “Fennec.” Pre-alpha builds of the program have been floating around since about April, but Mozilla has yet to commit to any firm release date for the software. Developers have previously indicated they want to focus on better integrating the PC and mobile environments, possibly using synchronization tools such as Weave to link browsing between the two.

Now the question becomes who’ll get there first — Mozilla Mobile or “Chrome Lite“? Gentlemen, start your engines.

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As Chrome started building up a userbase last week, American tracking company Net Applications found Microsoft’s browser share dropped by 1.4 percent, to 71 percent of the total browser market, as of Friday. But where it gets particularly interesting is in the figures for the other browsers:

• Firefox: Up 0.3 percent to 19.5
• Safari: Up 0.4 percent to 6.7
• Opera: Up 0.1 percent to 0.75

Most of the early predictions, understandably, speculated Chrome would pull most of its users from Firefox. As you can see, though, that appears to be anything but the case, at least from these new figures. Chrome’s total percentage hovers somewhere around 1 percent of the browser market, meaning that even if all its regular users did come from IE, still more Microsoft users defected and went to other existing options.

So what’s the deal? My guess is that the introduction of Chrome and the wealth of resulting media coverage comparing the browsers probably heightened awareness that hey, you don’t have to use this program that came with your Windows system. It’d be enlightening to get some research into how many of the users who jumped ship from IE had never used anything but IE before. My suspicion is that it’d be a fairly high amount.

In that respect, regardless of whether you love Chrome or hate it, its presence can be deemed a success. Maybe it takes a ubiquitous name like Google to open the general, non-computer-savvy public’s eyes to the less obvious options that exist. Granted, we’re only talking a couple of percentage points here — but it’s a start.

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1. Chrome Releases Third Beta — Competitors Excited?
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3. Internet Explorer Loses More Ground While Other Browsers Grow

Our first Q-Rewind stop is in November of 1998, when a couple of dudes from Stanford set up a small search engine. The home page looked a little less high-tech than what we know now.

Click on either option there, though, and you’d get these spiffy-looking first editions of the now ubiquitous product:

Now, to be fair, the then-dominant Yahoo was looking pretty hot back in the mid-90s, too. Here’s the cutting-edge search look of October 1996:

Speaking of cutting-edge, over on the browser side, the Mozilla home page was sporting a sweet Atari-style design around December of ‘98.

And just for kicks, we thought we’d see what DuncanRiley.com was up to in its infancy.

Whoops, still in the womb there. Let’s fast-forward just a hair, about one month ahead for the real deal.

You know, this is kind of like the modern equivalent of looking back at old photos from the 80s. Good times.

Anyhow, enough rewinding for one day. Back to the future, my friends…until next time.

No related posts.

Mozilla claims its offering ran 28 percent faster than Chrome on XP systems and 16 percent faster on Vista. Brenden Eich of TraceMonkey jokingly suggested he should rename the TraceMonkey technology to “V10,” a clear indication of his team’s awareness of Chrome’s quickly gained reputation for speed dominance.

The new Firefox 3.1 is set to be released before the year’s end.

Meanwhile, in case you were wondering how much people really care about Chrome, some new numbers out this afternoon give us a glimpse, at least in one country. HitWise looked at UK traffic on the browser’s launch day Tuesday and found visits to the Chrome site accounted for 0.6 percent of the nation’s overall traffic — a figure lower than the number of visits to either Microsoft’s or Mozilla’s respective software pages. Most people stayed on the Chrome site for about two minutes.

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2. How to Turbo-Charge Firefox 3.1 Beta
3. Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 is Here

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with this thing. I’m quite pleased with my Firefox setup and have no burning desire to leave it behind. After two years of development, though, Google’s built a surprisingly strong overall offering. The first beta, officially released Tuesday afternoon, incorporates some interesting and appealing features — but it’s also lacking in some areas that are hard to let go.

The Good

The positives of Chrome are a’plenty. The program’s multiprocess design is probably its biggest selling point. While Firefox 3 improved performance, anyone who has numerous tabs/windows open at once knows how easily one crappy site can still take it down. Chrome, on the other hand, operates every tab and window in its own unique environment, taking much of the risk away. Navigated to a slow-running site? No problem. Just close that tab and the rest of your browsing isn’t bothered. It even runs Java, Flash, and other add-ons in their own environments as well, so some sloppy code won’t slow down even the rest of that one page.

The bare-bones design, fitting with Google’s typical clean interface approach, is rather refreshing. There’s really no wasted screen real estate in this thing. Its file-style tabs are far more intuitive than the standard in-window look, and they’re way more useful, too. One of my favorite features is being able to drag tabs in and out of windows at any whim. I constantly have to cut-and-paste URLs into different windows to accomplish this currently.

Other noteworthy options: The “Omnibox” search/navigation bar, which lets you type in either a URL or a search term without thinking twice (and even lets you customize your default search choice — it’s not a Google-only tool); the dynamic home page that shows your most visited sites, search engines, and bookmarks; and the IE-esque “Incognito” feature that lets you activate no-history-browsing. There’s also an interesting “application mode,” in which you can set a direct desktop shortcut for a Web-based application and have it open as an application rather than as a browser window. This could come in handy for things like a WordPress log-in or webmail log-in, where you don’t want to accidentally navigate away from it during the day.

The Bad

The strongest con for me right now is the lack of add-ons. I rely on several Firefox extensions, and Chrome just doesn’t support them yet. It will eventually, at least in theory — but that doesn’t do me any good right now.

The beta nature of the browser is also a serious concern. Spend some time surfing around and you’ll see some shifty stuff as far as errors and funky formatting. Some of this may also be a result of the differing standards. Google’s engineers made a point to talk about the compatibility of Chrome’s WebKit foundation — basically, they say, if a site works with Safari (which also uses WebKit), it’ll work with Chrome. That may be, but Safari only accounts for about 6 percent of the browser market. Most sites aren’t designed with it in mind…so that doesn’t do me much good either.

There’s also the notion of privacy. One wonders how much sharing Google plans on doing with its various advertising interests. Do I want them knowing every move I make during the day?

The Verdict

The speed and performance of Chrome are powerful draws and make me want to move in right now. Firefox, even in its third release, doesn’t often perform to my expectations, and it drives me crazy while I’m trying to work. At the same time, though, I’m not ready to give up my add-on power. I’ll keep Chrome on my system and will experiment with it over time, but for now, I’m holding out on a full switch until a more complete release — complete with the add-ons I need, too — is ready.

As for overall success, it’s hard to imagine Chrome being able to dethrone IE. For better or for worse, Microsoft’s browser accounts for the overwhelming majority of the market — around 70 to 75 percent, depending on whom you ask. Being that many of those users are on it simply because it’s the Windows default and they don’t know or care to change it explains a lot. Logic would tell you that most people who might try Chrome are more likely to be Firefox users — people who also tend to be the more technologically inclined and curious sort. So if anything, Chrome may steal some of Mozilla’s fire — but it seems unlikely it’ll have a significant impact on IE’s dominance, unless Google’s able to eventually secure some type of Windows distribution deal.

Oh, and Mac and Linux users: Google’s guys insisted your versions are on the way soon. At today’s media event, they said they’ve been working on all three platforms concurrently. With Windows finished first, they said they wanted to get it out to the public as soon as possible to start getting feedback. So stay tuned for your turn.

Related posts:

1. Why Mozilla should be afraid of Google Chrome
2. Google Chrome Search: anti-competitive lock-in or inspired thinking?
3. Google Chrome Day One: Enough Already!

The folks over at Google Blogoscoped say they received the book in the mail from Google. While it certainly seems like an unusual thing for Google to do, full scans of the book are posted online, and sending such materials out would sure be an elaborate and rather pointless hoax for anyone to pull off.

The book goes into great detail about the upcoming open source browser, seemingly named Chrome. Among the details divulged, Google Blogoscoped reveals:

• It will be based on Webkit.
• It will include a brand new, custom Javascript Virtual Machine.
• It will have unique, top-of-window tabs that make the browser look almost like a real filing folder.
• It’ll offer a souped-up location bar called the “Omnibox.”
• It’ll present a home page that features snapshots of your favorite sites on one screen.
• It’ll have a private browsing mode comparable to IE’s new InPrivate option.

Of course, no release date or even initial beta target date are mentioned in the materials. You can check out the full comic book for yourself here.

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