Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Google Chrome web browser useful?

Google fans are amazed at some of the features in Google Chrome, Google's new web browser which was recently released.  Unfortunately, those poor souls could have had many of these features already had they been using Opera.  I have been taking many of these features for granted for years now without having to download any additional extensions.  I am glad to see Google helping these people see that these features are better and useful.  Tab/Window management, check.  Address bar under the tabs, check.  Smart searching from address bar, check.  Taking advantage of the empty space on a new tab to present your favorite sites, check.  Browser speed, check.  Page load speed, check.

That said, I do not believe those UI features are why Google released a browser of their own.  Like I said, practically all of the UI features have been done already and, in my opinion, they are missing a multitude of features still.  Where they have Opera and all the other browsers beat is with the V8 Javascript engine, Google Gears built into the browser and treating tabs/sites as their own separate applications.  Google is obviously building a platform to better run their applications like Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets and GMail on the desktop both online and offline.  Google Gears is a must for Google's office products to be used offline.  A separate add-on/extension required for a user to download is not acceptable for the masses.  So, why not try to build a platform browser with it already included?  Good idea in the end, especially since they are taking existing features and open source code to build upon.  Hopefully, Opera and the other browsers will follow suit with the push towards better web application performance.

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