Chrome: Do we need a Google browser?

Other sources:

• Wikipedia: Google
• Wikipedia: Google Chrome

Latest news from Google

The latest news from the Google blog is the news Chrome, the new browser from Google will be launched tomorrow. Some say Google has started a new browser war with Microsoft, and they think that the mobile world will be one of Google’s main attack points.

You can view a post with a response from CEO John Lilly at Mozilla to this release from Google. And why not read a list of questions raised about the Google browser?... raises.

Interested in seeing some (Chrome) screenshots?

Screenshots of Chrome.

Earlier news:

Earlier, at Google Blogged what seems a confirmation of a Google browser — currently known as Chrome,that is supposedly being developed. Phil got an email that included a cartoon from Scott McCloud, which reveals the new browser in some detail. The cartoon shows that there appears to be a new approach to the browser engine and it also includes some similarities to Opera (tabs above the address bar, a “home page” that features most-browsed pages and links, etc.).

At the Google Operating System blog, explains that one feature of the new browser is that it isolate each website in its own “sandbox,”. The advantage of this is that if something goes wrong with one page it doesn’t mean the whole browser crashes. Also another advantage is that the browser will include a “privacy mode” so data about any browsing session will not be recorded on the host PC. (Internet Explorer 8 also intended to include this.) Additionally it will include a built-in phishing filter, as well as an enhanced Javascript engine.

The most interesting point is that, Google clearly sees the browser as a form of operating system and we assume Mozilla people do too. The Google browser will also allow Web applications to run in a separate window that mimics a desktop application, and will include support for Google’s “Gears” service, which gives offline caching not dissimilar to Mozilla’s “Prism” feature.

Obviously there will be much interest raised about Google — the eye through which many people view the Internet. Questions such as Will the development of its own browser mean it will build features and render pages and search results better than others? And if so, why not? Competition improves. Hopefully Mozilla and Google and Microsoft will all come out heads up with a browser mergine as an OS for the webtop or “cloud” desktop.