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Google to Launch Webkit Based Web Browser Called 'Chrome'

wonder how long this will take before they have their web apps 'integrated'.

Will try it but if its anything like safari on windows will be going back to opera (moved from firefox due to stupid address bar)
 
Sounds more like an application runtime than a full fledged browser.

Windows-only? FAIL.
 
should be interesting to see how this pans out.

more choice definitely is not a bad thing, but it could easily fail too. who knows where google is trying to go with this. i just wish they would release more finished products off the bat. and for all OSes too.
 
seems to me that like apple with the iPhone, google is creating it's own browser to be the native browser for the android platform... and this is the natural extension to the desktop.
 
I hope this turns out well, since Firefox is a little like riding a mammoth, and Safari is probably the slowest piece of software I've used recently.

It hangs and freezes all the time. Scroll down a site, beach ball. Click a link, beach ball. Hold your mouse over a bookmark in the bookmark bar, beach ball. Enter an address in the address bar, beach ball. Enter information in a text field on a web page, beach ball. Download a file, beach ball.

Granted, the beach ball will only last a couple of seconds and then Safari will unfreeze, but when this happens like a million times a minute, no matter what you're doing, it's ridiculous.

Only happens in Safari, no other application.
 
so what

a non-apple company is releasing a beta of a non-apple application -- and this is Page 1 news on macrumors?

while mildly interesting, this should be nowhere near Page 1 news.
 
Google is using Apple's webkit, and making us wait for a Mac version? I would have expected better from Google...

Moreover, the fact that the Windows version is being released first suggests that the Mac version is an afterthought, and may or may not be as solid and feature-packed as the Windows version.
 
scoobydoo99 said:
a non-apple company is releasing a beta of a non-apple application -- and this is Page 1 news on macrumors?

while mildly interesting, this should be nowhere near Page 1 news.
Click to expand...

Google has been pretty tied into Apple lately, so I'm not surprised. Plus, it seems page 1 is becoming more and more of a general technology blog instead of Apple only these days.
 
Great power brings great responsibilities...

Pros:
Would give a great integrated User experience as they will be able to make the browser run more efficiently for all online apps that google makes.
If Google can team up with Mozilla which they have done (more-or-less) with Firefox-3 then we have the best team in browser business and the best team in online apps delivering great functionality. However this will provide Google more leverage in terms of more funtionality that they will be able to have their own platform and later run a merger with Mozilla through knowledge sharing from their new venture(Chrome). This can easily be a deal breaker as well if relationships go sour between Google and Mozilla.
Competition is a good thing and this will loosen MSFT's grip further and allow Google to try out more things which they could not on rival platform (MSFT's IE) otherwise.


Cons:If the Google's Chrome takes off then they will have a total control over what we see in our browser cause using the google search engine inside google's browser means they can restrict what they want to show us or block competitors out.
Google could grown into a giant monopolistic online venture and smother the small companies which might have more innovative ideas like MSFT has been doing for years now.
 
It's interesting how they address (my) main issue with Safari as the main underlying feature of Chrome. The way Safari chews up more and more ram until you close it. I wonder if Apple will adopt the same approach.
 
I don't see this going anywhere

It sounds to me like some Googlers have been using WebKit for the Android platform, creating some new enhancements and features. So they decided to try some new ideas for the UI of a browser and put it out there. Similar to Flock or another 'next gen' browser. It is also a good way to release thier ideas to the open source world so that pieces can be used by Safari/Firefox.

Google basically funds Mozilla.org by paying big bucks to be the default search engine. They also hire a number of prominent Firefox coders. I don't see this as a big threat to the main browsers, just another thing they are flinging to the wall to see what sticks. Probably won't.
 
Chaszmyr said:
Google is using Apple's webkit, and making us wait for a Mac version? I would have expected better from Google...

Moreover, the fact that the Windows version is being released first suggests that the Mac version is an afterthought, and may or may not be as solid and feature-packed as the Windows version.
Click to expand...

Apple's webkit? no.

webkit is open source. Apple just happen to use it too.
 
Should be Interesting to see how it works and looks. I doubt I will use it as my main browser, unless it has some features that makes it stand out from the others.
 
swingerofbirch said:
Don't know much about this. So Webkit is an open source technology Apple uses in Safari that Google is now using in a browser. I get that. But if you go to http://www.webkit.org why do they use the Safari icon for generic Webkit builds if it's independent of Apple?
Click to expand...

WebKit is a rendering engine, not a browser. It needs to be hosted by a browser to run, and the WebKit team chose Safari to do that. When you install WebKit nightly on a Mac or Windows, it uses the currently-installed Safari to run in. You can see this by the version number of the browser.
 
Good Luck Blocking Ads

I think this will be an excellent way to help with "targeted" ads for their ad business.

And as an added bonus, webkit will get more developers. It's a win/win for the Mac community.
 
scoobydoo99 said:
a non-apple company is releasing a beta of a non-apple application -- and this is Page 1 news on macrumors?

while mildly interesting, this should be nowhere near Page 1 news.
Click to expand...

Agreed...and why can't a company with the capital of google develop a mac and windows version simultaneously?? WEAKKKK
 
Chaszmyr said:
Google is using Apple's webkit, and making us wait for a Mac version? I would have expected better from Google...

Moreover, the fact that the Windows version is being released first suggests that the Mac version is an afterthought, and may or may not be as solid and feature-packed as the Windows version.
Click to expand...

Google is seeing MSFT's IE-8 as a threat to its business as MS can slam the doors on googles face by blocking their access to the statistics which google use widely for searches, etc, etc. Also MS can lockdown google apps like Google Docs, etc which are a direct threat to MSFT's business. This has prompted google to be more proactive and keep secure their business interest. If they can dethrone IE as a major browser with their own business that means they will have control over the platform on which their apps run, not MSFT.

Most of the MAC users and Linux users are anti-MSFT (talking into account majority here) and use mostly Mozilla, Firefox or Opera and thus Google is already safegaurded in this user base and thus the delays in this user-market are still sustainable to google. But we will see a Google's Chrome version soon, not as much as a urgency as the Windows-user base which Google wants a safe guard against.

Things are not looking good for MSFT as all companies are threatening MSFT in every sector of their business. But all these changes in the past 2 years and the next few yrs will change the face of the computer industry and internet in more ways than we can imagine.... And just may be, may be.... Everybody will be sane enough to dump Windows and move to Mac OS or Linux. :apple::D:)
 
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