Google are launching their new rival to Microsoft's Internet Explorer today (called Chrome - logo below) following an accidental (yeah right) leak of a 38 page 'comic book' style press release to several European based journalists (someone apparently "hit send a bit early" according to key sources at Google.
Of course we are all convinced by that, not least for the fact that it was a public holiday in the US yesterday and what better time to launch when news is thin on the ground and you can guarantee mass exposure in the tech space - not that I'm cynical or anything, you understand). Anyway, the new open source browser will be available in beta to around 100 countries Tuesday morning (US time).
Not only is it free to download but Google claim it's faster, more stable and more secure than rivals Explorer (used by around 75% of web surfers), Mozilla (the next biggest alternative and which also follows the open source ideology adopted by Google), Opera or Safari. Chrome has also been specifically designed for the needs and requirements of the next generation Web 2.0 users who demand more usage of video, games, chat and internet banking.
But don't expect Microsoft to be surrender monkeys... it's likely to simply escalate the intense rivalry between the two organisations. The latest incarnation of IE (version 8) was launched as a test version just last week (hmmm, funny that) with a whole host of new features (basically more privacy and user control features) which Microsoft claim are the equal of (if not better than) what's on offer via Chrome. Well, they would, wouldn't they ?
Let battle commence...
With the introduction of the 'Omnibar' in Google's new browser, and it's ability to display historical web pages based on keywords typed as opposed to just URLs, it would seem that well written and relevant content is more important than ever. And given the proliferation of garbage on the internet I for one welcome that with unbridaled joy.
Steve Blakeman
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 27 Oct 2008
Total Posts: 59
