Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's colorful CEO, and other top executives, no doubt, where all smiles as the press seemingly gave their thumbs up in their reviews of the upcoming Explorer 8. Explorer 8 has been getting rave reviews for basically offering what other browsers already have been offering, such as Safari's "Private Browsing" feature, which Explorer 8 calls, "In Private".
Unfortunately, despite all the praise for Explorer's stability, security and what have you, Mr. Ballmer's face is probably anything but smiling now. The reason is that Microsoft's paranoia over all things Google is about to boil over as the long held rumors of Google entering Explorer's turf turns out to be true after all. It is now being wildly reported that Google is unleashing a direct competitor and threat to both Explorer and Firefox called Chrome!
Google's Chrome browser is being made available earlier than expected after Google accidentally released a 'comic style' media release. Chrome is being described as being much faster, more secure and more stable than other browsers and was designed with the next generation of web content, such as internet banking, chat, web-based games and video in mind.
Unfortunately, Chrome is only being released initially for Windows, but not to worry, OS X and Linux users should have the chance to download Chrome in the very near future as well. All-Things-Digital has posted Chrome's comic on their site if your interested.
Until I actually try Chrome, however, I won't try and pass judgement on it. However, I must say that it certainly looks promising. It has some very interesting features, especially the tabs. Just like the way in which OS X handles applications, so does Chrome handle tabs, by insulating individual pages from each other. In other words, if something goes a little wacky in one tab, it won't bring down the whole browser, but rather only the tab in question - all other tabs are not effected! That is a very cool feature in my book. The tabs are also different because they are placed on top, rather than on the bottom as in other browsers.
Like Safari, Chrome will be built on Webkit and like it, I'm sure, it will become an intricate piece of Android, Google's new open-standard mobile platform. Safari, on the iPhone, is one of the main things, after all, that makes the iPhone so appealing, and likewise, it should also do the same for Android based mobiles. Also, just like Safari and the upcoming Explorer 8, there is a privacy mode.
http://www.google.com/chrome is not officially up and running, at the moment, but if you check back shortly it should, hopefully, be in operation soon. I can't wait personally to download and try it out, as it looks like it might be another good alternative to the the existing stable of browsers. Chrome will be watched very closely by Apple, FireFox, Opera and especially Microsoft, as it looks to be the biggest threat yet, and especially to Explorer. Chrome is another choice and more choice is always a good thing. Chrome shows great promise and has some very cool features and if it works as good as they claim it will, than I'm sure it will be a big winner, and all at Microsoft's Explorer's expense. Even though Explorer 8 looks like it might be the very best browser that Microsoft ever created, now, thanks to Google's Chrome, it may not be enough to stop Explorer's shrinking market share.
In conclusion, it must be remembered that Google is the most trusted name in web search, and if Google can transfer just some of that trust to Chrome, well, in the end, Explorer 8 and all the other browsers will be no more than siting ducks, just waiting to be blown out of the water!
And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, September 01, 2008.
Image: TechSpot
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