Google launches Chrome...and in other news

I wouldn't write Chrome off just yet, in fact I envisage it catching up with Mozilla...

ZDnet first benchmarks

We're very early in the game. Remember Google is NOT pitching this as a browser but as an OS for the cloud that happens to use a browser. Whatever they may say to the contrary.  That's a very different proposition to the one most are looking at. Also, no Linux/Mac versions yet they pitch as open source? Duh? Mozilla/Firefox has a huge ecosystem of plug-ins and add-ons. To be competitive Chrome has to get a lot of those things replicated by an ecosystme that is predominantly *nix people. Finally, it's built on an old version of Safari Webkit which has a number of vulnerabilities. The jury in this commenter's mind has yet to be convened. For which, read the press over the coming days. The gloss will fade and reality set in.

Google do have a habit of doing things right though. As you say it's very early in the development cycle and people will of course be wary, make comparisons to other browsers and the fact an 'Open Source' browser is only available on PCs. Of course we all know that as soon as the developer community gets hold of the source code, these versions will surface, as will tweaks, skins and plug-ins.

If you look at Google's portfolio of products, it's hard to fault any of them. I remember people getting irate about Google Mail and the intrusive adverts appearing in your Inbox view, but I use Googlemail as my primary email now, and I have to say, it's faultless.

Oh dear, Google conveniently forgot to mention this when they did their cutesy cartoon...didn't they?

Burned by Chrome

aaah - I forgot to mention the ToS. I'm a constant critic on that. It's a chaotic mess however much one might like to think otherwise.

One worrying facet is that too many people (at least in my mind) are way too quick to give Google a pass on things we'd otherwise go through with a fine toothcomb if the company was Microsoft.

I'm in two minds about this one. Part of me says "great, a reaction against bloatware browsers" which appeals to my KISS tendencies. The other half says "here we go again" - a re-run of the IE kills Netscape game with the shoe on the other foot for M$. Agree with Dennis about Google learning the lessons of market dominance from MS with all that implies - the difference being that currently Google don't tend to tie in the consumer with licence fees in the process.

@rob - from a technical perspective, it is an operating system approach for the cloud. Far bigger brains than I have been looking at this and see it as such on the basis of the way it is designed and the fact it is open source - which automatically opens the door to developers.

One of the biggies here is the handling of Javascript. In a recently technical demo elsewhere, we were imbued with what had to be done to get round trip at sub 300ms. Early Chrome tests appear lightning fast. No apps developer can ignore the implications for comparison with deskside applications which has always been one of the main criticisms of apps run in the internet cloud. If Google really has cracked that nut then it would be insane not to think about developing against their code.

I'll be at SAP TechEd next week. This will, I'm sure, be a topic for discussion. Hopefully I can get more insight there.

As for pre-installation, they'll need to persuade Dell/HP plus Dell/HP will need to look carefully at the multi-year agreements they have with Microsoft.

They still need to get the Mac/*nix versions out to woo the die hard open source people. That's where I see a lot of current complaint among the Twitterlings.

I'm sure the die-hard open source people will have a version out there within a few weeks - anything to add to their key currency of kudos. This will give G much better open source credentials ("see, this is your code we're not proprietary") and they can use the code and feedback to get their V1 product out the door for less cost.

And if users really like it then that matters too.

@Rob - this from John Furrier who got to speak with Sergey Brin:

"The elephant in the room is that Google is an OS. It’s a good thing. We need a new OS - a modern one. What that will end up meaning is still under development by the top comp sci guys around the world (and they are employed by Google).

To me it’s search, advertising, new software model, communications technology (broadband), and collaboration tools."

Doesn't get more horse's mouth than that.

Google has retracted the dubious 'Clause 11.1' and replaced it with a new one, which makes me feel much more comfortable about using it:

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights that you already hold in Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services.

Why did this happen?

Rebecca Ward, the Senior Product Counsel for Google Chrome, wrote: “In order to keep things simple for our users, we try to use the same set of legal terms (our Universal Terms of Service) for many of our products. Sometimes, as in the case of Google Chrome, this means that the legal terms for a specific product may include terms that don’t apply well to the use of that product. We are working quickly to remove language from Section 11 of the current Google Chrome terms of service. This change will apply retroactively to all users who have downloaded Google Chrome.”

Thanks to The Register for this article.

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- Google as / with its own operating system - is a four year old (plus) debate/theory/point of view/reality. Neither news nor an elephant.

- The definition of what we mean by "operating system" is starting to change for users, and radically changed long ago inside the research and development teams of Microsoft, Google and anyone else with chips in the game.

- Parking code / value inside the guise of a browser vehicle is an interesting way to deliver your future-OS/whatever/foundation play to an audience that still thinks of the web in terms of browsers and websites.

- Software and tech companies are often smarter than they get credit for/disclose in advance.

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As you were...

Very brave of you to pass comment on a Google discussion Gary.

Almost as brave as wading in to a Vista thread on AccountingWeb!

Gary,

Not brave at all, just agreeing (and disagreeing) with what Dennis said and pointed to. Just more misplaced-hype around Google.

Plus I have thick skin - particularly around my waist.

@Gary - I'm with you on the waist thing. As regards: "Software and tech companies are often smarter than they get credit for/disclose in advance" - I"m not so sure. Did you notice how Oracle managed to lose Mr Fusion - right before Oracle Open World? Careless or stupid?

@Marc - Chrome is showing all sorts of defects. Why am I not surprised?

@Dennis, I agree. Allow to me clarify - Microsoft is smarter than it gets credit for / discloses in advance.