The first half was published in the latest Jag Wire, and is rather watered down due to the low population of nerds who read it. However, the second half of my review– which is more of an article all by itself– was not yet published simply because we didn’t have enough room. It’s basically opinion, as I don’t foresee Google killing Windows because everyone converts to cloud computing. Here it is below, and both halves, too:
You thought the world would never need another web browser when Firefox 3 was released. You were wrong. Google, as usual, has come out with something fresh to contend with the world’s leading web browsers.
Branded “Google Chrome,” this shiny new piece of (currently beta) software released by our future world dictators on September 2nd is akin to things we’ve seen (similar to Firefox in the sense of using tabs), but “under the hood,” as the developers of Chrome put it, Google is quite a different bite of cookie altogether.
Overall, Chrome is just as able-bodied as any other browser, has the eye-candy essential to 21st century software, is noticeably faster than other browsers, and is much, much simpler to use.
It has all of the features anyone could need from tabs to deleting browsing history, and a technology that is new to tabbed web browsers: each tab is run as its own process rather than running within the program as whole; this means that if one web page you visit causes the browser to crash, the incident will be isolated in that tab, which you may safely close afterwards.
Aesthetically speaking, Chrome is very pleasing to the eye, and has a considerably less amount of “stuff” up in the address bar/menu area than Firefox does, especially if you have the Google toolbar installed in Firefox (which is not needed when using Chrome). Chrome’s only buttons are the primary navigation buttons (back, forward, and refresh), and two icon buttons, one containing page options, the other containing some more advanced general options.
The address bar also doubles as a search bar for your favorite search engine (defaulted at Google, of course, but that can be changed if so desired).
Chrome may be shiny, exceptionally faster than any browser yet seen, and be more user-friendly, but it is currently missing some vital components that may cause many people’s loyalties to remain with Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 (or the beta version of 8). In its current release, Chrome did not come with any abilities to install addons, and there are no addons made for it yet; this means that some websites and services currently do not support Chrome, such as any websites implementing Microsoft Silverlight technology. Also, new Chrome users will have to get used to the user interface, as it slightly differs from Firefox and IE7. Those aside, most people will find Chrome to be an excellent browser. Chrome is currently only available for Windows, but Google is avidly working to make Mac and Linux versions as well.
There are those of the technological fields who are already saying Google is targeting the PC-dominant Windows line of operating systems with Chrome, and say that Google intends to develop Chrome into a basic operating system that will revolutionize “cloud computing,” an idea that Google has been entertaining for years with online applications such as Google Docs, Calendar, and Picasa, to name a few.
“Cloud computing” is the concept of having all programs and files you would have on your computer stored on a remote server that will run the programs for you, and all you need to do is log in from any computer connected to the Internet in the world, and you have all of your files and programs at your disposal.
Cloud computing can be attractive, especially when viewed from the perspective of those who travel constantly and don’t want to worry about carrying a laptop with them or having to update files to several computers, and there are many (mostly Microsoft-haters, it would seem) who feel and like to entertain the idea that Google’s Chrome was designed to become an operating system to run Google applications online under the cloud computing idea, eliminating the need for current and future Windows systems (not to mention Macintosh and Linux OSs as well).
Is it possible for Google to develop Chrome, market enough online programs with enough oomph in them to entice users, kill Windows, and ultimately finish their quest of world domination? That question is almost rhetorical if you know the facts.
Chrome is a very speedy and capable browser, but even if it could be developed into a cloud-computing operating system capable of handling many different types and brands of hardware, and even if Internet connections that are fast enough could become inexpensive enough for the average consumer so that major cloud-computing could be possible, consumers won’t buy it; we feel more secure with our information and our physical computers in our own homes, not in the hands of a company that made over 10.5 billion dollars in the first six months of 2008, however kind they are.
An operating system is a very complex piece of software. Aside from the ability to give output and receive input from/to mouses, monitors, keyboards, microphones, printers, game controllers, infrared remotes, magic commands, telepathy, and the plethora of other input/output devices out there, an OS (operating system) needs to be compatible with a wide variety of other hardware and devices consumers use today—and there are thousands of them, from hard drives to cell phones to MIDI keyboards to graphics cards to sound cards to even USB Nerf Rocket Launchers (see www.thinkgeek.com).
The truth is that most hardware and devices are built to be compatible with Windows operating systems—and Windows is mutually built to be compatible with them back. Chrome will have to be much more than the simple web browser that it is in order to directly communicate with input and output devices and successfully control the wide possibility of different hardware and devices it may encounter. One can’t just toss a web browser onto a blank hard drive in a computer and expect it to operate.
Making online applications work the way we’re used to working with them on our personal computers is a very hard feat to accomplish. Internet speeds are one of the biggest limiting factors; the majority of consumers don’t have upload and download speeds of faster than 1.5 to seven megabytes per second, which is very slow in comparison to read/write speeds of our hard drives and transfer rates between components in our computers. Online applications have to be condensed and small so as to not be too slow. Looking at Google Docs and Calendar, one will notice that they have a very small amount of features especially when compared to the Microsoft Office suites or even OpenOffice.
Even if technology advances to when Google could develop Chrome into a full-fledged operating system compatible with the tens of thousands of devices that we use, a soul gateway to an online system of cloud computing, even if Google could develop their online applications to do exactly what our expensive software does, and even if super-fast Internet connections (probably at least 3 GB/s would be sufficient for today’s hardware standards) became cheap and the norm, it is doubtful that Google would get many customers to use Chrome as an operating system. Using Chrome and cloud computing eliminates having private information on a private-owned computer, saving it instead on a private account on a corporately-owned server. People don’t trust their entire lives in the hands (or hard drives) of large companies, even “soft and fuzzy” ones like Google, even ones that establish seemingly undefeatable security measures. People like the traditional method of owning their own hardware and being able to customize their computer with the components they want with as much power as they want. People don’t like leaving it up to Google to build their computers for them a thousand miles away and never seeing it; people like owning things—physical (not virtual) things.
Of course, we store basically our entire lives already on email servers…
Read more at these sources:
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/007664.html
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-09-01-n47.html
http://counternotions.com/2008/09/02/chrome/
http://www.pcmech.com/article/can-google-chrome-be-a-windows-killer/
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Browser-Chrome-not-just-an-IE-Killer-a-Windows-Killer-Too-92937.shtml
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/revenues_q208.html
