02/09/08
44Google Chrome
Google have just announced their new open-source browser Google Chrome, via the ingenious medium of a comic strip:
It’s good to see a new approach being used like this, particularly commissioned illustration.
First of all, the good news is they’re using Webkit. I remember John Allsopp joking about how great it would be if there was just one rendering engine, that was downloaded just like the Flash plugin. It’ll never happen, but the rapid adoption of Webkit outside Safari is getting to be the closest we’ll have to that. I had expected them to go with XUL and Gecko, in order to support other platforms with ease, so a voice at the back of head says this will be Windows only.
I can’t comment on all the talk about architecture/background processes, it all sounds very cool, but I have no idea if this really is a new approach or not. The main interface details are on page 19, where we see nothing new. Each of these features are currently available in other browsers:
- Tabs on top (or the ‘Omnibox’): Been in Opera for years, and more recently in Coda. While Safari doesn’t visually show tabs on top, if you have inquisitor installed it behaves in the same way as the Omnibox, in that each tab has it’s own URL bar and Search.
- Location bar that searches pages in the history: Another Opera innovation, recently added by Firefox. Also, for a few years now, Omniweb has enabled you to search the full text of pages in your browsing history
- New tabs show most used sites: Opera’s speed dial feature. Also, Camino has always had a dynamic ‘Top 10 most visited sites’ bookmark list, although I find that the 10 most visited sites, and the 10 sites I’d want to quickly access aren’t the same thing. I’d prefer to choose my sites manually.
- Privacy Browsing: Safari. Cough. Bless ‘em though, I like they way they use ‘buying a present in secret’ for the real world example.
- Pop Up Window Control: Most browsers have this, but in particular, the pop-up control sounds just like Omniweb.
They start by telling us how they’re rethinking the browser, and then go on to repeat what has happened before in others. I would’ve liked to see them approach another problem – namely ‘too many tabs open’. Beyond the performance issues, the more tabs you have open, the more difficult it becomes to know what you have open, and in which tab it is. Omniweb gets around this with it’s lovely visual tabs. Opera uses an alt-tab switch with thumbnail preview (which has also found it’s way into the latest Firefox nightlies).
The comic site itself highlights another web problem – loads of ‘next’ links, something Omniweb solves with a magical press of the enter key, and I’d love to see implemented in other browsers.
Knowing Google, ‘Chrome’ will most likely work really well, but not allow ads to be hidden, and of course, have the standard insipid google style. In fact just as I was writing this, a screenshot has appeared on news sites
I’m excited about the spread of Webkit, but at this stage Chrome doesn’t seem to offer me much. If they do make an OS X version, I’ll be duty-bound to try it of course!
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David Emery said 94 days ago:
Spot on – they don’t seem to be doing anything new or exciting, but the more instances of WebKit the better!
I wonder how hot they’ll be at keeping up with the new features they keep adding to WebKit – hopefully we won’t get stuck with the current version of WebKit in Chrome for ages (as people seem to upgrade Safari version pretty swiftly), leaving us yet another specific set of browser features to test on…
Paul D. Waite said 94 days ago:
I believe it’s out on Windows today, with OS X and Linux versions forthcoming.
sil said 94 days ago:
Puzzled by this. I mean, WebKit works on Windows and Linux, and I’m sure I read something about it working on OS X as well too :-) I’m not sure which (WebKit or Gecko) runs on more platforms, but I’d say it’s about the same; WebKit runs on S60 Nokia phones but Gecko runs on the Amiga, etc, etc.
fourstar said 94 days ago:
They do say on slide two:
“…just as we’ve adopted good ideas from others.”
So they’re not claiming to reinvent everything, just the bits that they think they can do better!
Kean said 94 days ago:
I’ll probably download and try it out, but I can’t see me using it for everyday web browsing. I just hope Chrome doesn’t become yet another browser that has it’s own quirks when it’s comes to website rendering, using webkit is certainly a move in the right direction though.
Alexander Graf said 94 days ago:
Because of the custom JS engine we can’t just test with Safari and be done with it. I guess at least it won’t be another Internet Exploder….
Jon Hicks said 94 days ago:
@sil – webkit is just the rendering engine, you still need to an application to wrap around it!
Ben Ward said 94 days ago:
Architecturally very interesting, and Gears/HTML5 backend stuff is probably good in the long run (though the amount of JavaScript-dependence that technology will inevitably add to the web is disconcerting).
WebKit is a good choice. Ben Goodger is pretty well proven at stripping down interfaces for simplicity. I’m certain it will all be ruined by Google’s trademark visual design fugliness though, and given how out of place it looks in the screenshots on Windows, I can only shudder at how un-mac-like the OSX version could be.
I’m coming across very blunt and cynical. I think I’m just sour at their presentation of Opera’s features as their own. The whole comic reads like the speed dial and omnibar are ingenious ideas that Google thought up to revolutionise your web experience. Then whilst Mozilla and WebKit get special thanks in the final panel, Opera gets nothing.
I don’t even use Opera, but in an industry where we preach so much about attribution and respect for the work of others, I’m not happy at the way Google have just danced in like this.
ncus said 94 days ago:
I am curious about how Chrome will look like on OS X, because of its top tabs interface will violate Apple HID guide lines.
Is the screenshot for Windows or Linux? The color scheme looks like from Fedora Linux.
@Ben, Google is dancing on top Opera ideas. Chrome is like a browser that took what the best from other browsers.
Olly said 94 days ago:
Besides the novel way of announcing the project, I can’t find a great deal to get excited about here. I was kinda hoping the tabs would be on top of the window (like in the comic) but computer says no.
@sil – I can’t quite believe I’m writing something quite this geeky, but… as it stands, Webkit runs on Amigas and Gecko doesn’t.
ramin said 94 days ago:
While the interface doesn’t seem to offer anything too innovating (at least based on the comic), the background stuff is really interesting.
I really like the idea of each tab as its own process and detailed rundowns on where the performance issues lie. There are some really strong architectural reasons why this is a really good approach and I’m interested in trying it.
As a software developer (or web developer but from a more programming perspective) I’m enthusiastic about the possibility to view exactly how various parts and sites use resources.
Mike Robinson said 94 days ago:
The comic was fun, very nice approach.
However, do we really need another browser on the market? Even if it does work well, every browser has it’s quirks that we have to deal with as developers.
If it does behave like Firefox, Safari and Opera then I guess it means users have more options of good IE alternatives, though IE8 does seem to be moving in a good direction. Like you I don’t see much benefit to switching to Chrome, but I will try it out. Firefox has everything I need, especially the awesome Firebug and Web Developer Toolbar plug-ins, so I just hope it works well enough to not provoke any headaches!
Finally, I thought this was a hilarious comment on the Times Online article:
“This wont majorly affect Microsofts market share, instead it will just divide those that would prefer to use an inferior browser due to their hatred of Microsoft. In other words, FireFox’s share will be hit… not IEs”
Richard said 94 days ago:
Only question for me is how well it sticks to standards. We don’t need another browser with rendering anomalies – there isn’t enough hours in the day for testing and fixing of code for buggy browsers as it is.
As for “nice to have features” I don’t tend to use half of what’s available so the question, “Why bother?” comes to mind. But then I’m just a grumpy old git.
Chris McElligott said 94 days ago:
It seems they haven’t really reinvented anything, however the idea of tabs/sites running as it’s own process is quite exciting.
If Google can push the browser to the general public, even further than Mozilla has done with Firefox, it’s win win for developers. Another step close to being IE6 free. I still don’t see the “hardcore” users switching over from Firefox just yet, Mozilla should be sweating a little though.
bruce said 94 days ago:
Ben Ward
- if there’s one thing that my three months at Opera has taught me (apart from how to drink like a Norwegian) it’s that Opera is constantly overlooked when it comes to doling out the props for its innovations or initiatives.
So thanks for not overlooking us!
David Storey said 94 days ago:
Forgive my ignorance as I’ve never used OmniWeb and not used Camino for ages but Opera also has the top ten sites thing. It was on our start bar, but as that is now removed by default, I’m not sure where it hangs out now. I’m not sure which browser had it first.
Opera also has that magic return key thing, if I understand what it does. Again, I’ve no idea who had it first, but we have fast forward that takes you to the the next page. If there is a next button it uses that (rel=“next” and the like), otherwise it does some intelligent guesses. This is either via the fast forward button or pressing space when you are at the bottom of the page.
I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. At least people will not say we are the only browser with the tabs on top (even if I don’t liek that myself as as a Mac user it looks very strange in the era of unified too bars). One of the things that does always amaze me about Opera is that the developers always seem to dream up new ideas and concepts, even though we have a fairly small team, while bigger companies with huge R&D teams do far less innovation in the browser space. It is nice we are stating to get some credit from developers/designers for this, as I used to often hear things like FF invented tabs, and sessions etc. The nice thing about being at company that invents things, is that while the competition are taking time to implement these features, we are dreaming up new ideas.
Jon Hicks said 94 days ago:
Thanks David – pressing space at the end of a page is indeed what I’m talking about! I’m still getting used to the amazing amount of keyboard functions in Opera.
Helen said 94 days ago:
As ramin said, the main thing to get excited about is not the interface, so much as the concept of separating processes out between tabs. I’m fed up with Firefox always maxing out because of having several different pages open – although I would add that it is usually Google apps that cause this problem (google docs, analytics etc). Seems like they’ve built a browser to deal with the bloat of their own applications…
carefulweb said 94 days ago:
I think Chrome would be good for developers. It can show system resources for site rendering. It needs some time to find a place in the Browser Playground :-)
Matt Wilcox said 94 days ago:
It’s interesting, but it’s not offering anything that would convince me to use it over Firefox. With that said, if it had addons like Firefox does, then Chrome becomes a much more viable option.
The areas where most other browsers fall short is in add-ons. Firefox is only as good as it is (for me) because it offers a wealth of addons that suit my needs perfectly (Firebug, WebDevToolbar, etc). Without those addons Firefox would be good, but nothing to get attached to.
jimbo said 94 days ago:
It’s how I thought it would come…
Google is controlling everything soon.
This is really scary! And because it’s free and well coded, people will use it. But in fact, it isn’t really free, folks! You give away your privacy for some programs…
Don’t use to much from the same firm, let me tell you that. You will regret it. Google is much to powerful already, and when there is no competition, google can do everything they want.
We already have safe and well coded browsers such like firefox or safari. Do we really need Google Chrome?
Think of it, don’t be lazy to do that! I’m not Anti-Google but that is becoming really scary…
Dustin Diaz said 94 days ago:
I’ve said this several times on other sites. If any one company has the credibility to build a browser, it’s a Google, a web company.
If people complain about seeing another browser, you’ll live. It uses webkit for rendering, so if there are bugs in Webkit, then your hacks around them will also work in Chrome.
Putting in Gears by default is something new that no other browser is doing. Also, to say that there is “nothing new at all” (some commenters pulled that out of context in your post Jon) and “it seems they haven’t really reinvented anything” is ridiculous and ignorant. But more importantly, folks probably haven’t done enough investigation.
1) They’ve built an entirely new JavaScript engine, the fastest one, ever. (invention)
2) Tabs are run as separate processes. One tab goes down, your browser doesn’t. (nobody else does this)
3) It continually updates a built-in malware-phishing database to protect you from the bad peoples. (IE is trying this and doing a bad job)
4) Gears. Hello.
Jim Gaynor said 94 days ago:
Regarding the use of a cartoon to explain/promote the product, Microsoft actually did an 8-page comic about Office 2007:
http://www.enchantedoffice.com/
Wasn’t bad at all. Made by an indy comic artist from Portland.
Patrick Haney said 94 days ago:
Over the years, I’ve constantly been looking for the “perfect browser.” I don’t know if there will ever be one, but at least the options are getting better.
While I’m not all that excited about Google Chrome, I’m glad Google is looking to redesign the web browser. They’ve got some excellent ideas that I think the other vendors can learn from. What really interests me is the multiple processes for tabs. I often get to the point where my browser (Camino mostly) gets overloaded with tabs and starts to slow down my entire system. There has to be a way to address this issue other than the typical “don’t open so many tabs.”
The other thing I’ve long since wondered about was the browser “dashboard.” I always have new tabs open with about:blank just to speed up the process, but it’d be great to have a locally loaded page of useful information, such as your recent browsing history, your favorite bookmarks, and the most popular things you’ve visited lately. I see the screenshot above shows what that page might look like.
Even if Google Chrome doesn’t catch on, at least it’ll show Mozilla, Microsoft, and Apple some things they haven’t thought of. And maybe someday we’ll get that “perfect browser” after all.
neil said 94 days ago:
I think the big difference between Opera’s Speed Dial and Chrome is that Chrome automatically propagates its “custom home page” with items from your usage history. From everything I can see Speed Dial is a manual affair only – you have to implicitly add items to it.
Mark said 94 days ago:
Google Chrome is functional, I can see the less is more browser fans loving it. I agree with that concept however I am going to stick with Firefox for now.
I am a huge fan of Google and simply love almost everything they do (Gmail, Goole Apps etc…) all wonderful, chrome a step in an interesting direction for sure. I feel pretty comfortable with webkit behind it and its a nice concept/idea.
I think more than anything Chrome just adds fuel to the fire and will help to keep browser progression going strong. More standards compliant browsers/choices are just another thorn in IE’s side.
Chris McLeod said 94 days ago:
I’ve just downloaded it, and in just 5 minutes I think it’s absolutely brilliant. So so fast.
To put how fast it is in context: my home office machine is a 2GHz/2GB Mac Mini. My default browser is a fairly light (Firebug + Gears) install of Firefox 3. I have Chrome running in a Vista parallels VM. Internet Explorer and FF3 (Win) absolutely grind in this VM. On any page I throw at it Chrome resoundingly spanks FF3 (native Mac) at connecting and fully rendering the page.
It also comes with a very solid replacement for Firebug built right in, which was a very welcome surprise!
Chrome might not bring anything “new”, but what does bring it seems to do very well. It’s too early to tell whether it can really compete with Firefox et al, but I’m seriously considering making it my default browser on my day-job (Windows) laptop.
Jon Hicks said 94 days ago:
@Neil – That’s the point I’m making though, I prefer to choose those speed dials manually to be the most effective.
@Patrick – I don’t think there is much here they haven’t thought of, certainly not interface wise.
Jemaleddin said 94 days ago:
So far after running it for half a day, I find Chrome to be very fast and I’m already liking the way it works. Unfortunately, I can already see myself going back to Firefox: I need AdBlockPlus, I need AutoFillForms, I need, I need, I need.
Jon Hicks said 94 days ago:
“It also comes with a very solid replacement for Firebug built right in, which was a very welcome surprise!”
That’s the webkit web inspector that is!
Zeno said 94 days ago:
I’m really hope that the GUI of the OSX version will be written using Cocoa and not some crappy aqua-faked widgets as we see in Firefox…
has anyone read any inside info about that?
Aaron Feaver said 94 days ago:
My copy of Safari does the next-page-on-enter-key thing too. It’s so, so useful on a site like Flickr, where you just want to see a lot of photos quickly, without having to use the mouse much.
Erwin Heiser said 94 days ago:
Anything that will eat a bit out of IE’s marketshare is fine by me, maybe this will persuade some users who, for some reason, will not try FF to try a different browser (hey, if it’s from Google it must be good, right?)
J. King said 94 days ago:
As an addendum to David Storey’s comment about Fast Forward in Opera, I would like to point out that, if you have no forward history, any sort of “forward” action (eg. mouse button, mouse gesture, Alt-Right on the keyboard) will also trigger Fast Forward. This is especially awesome when reading comic strips one wishes to catch up on the archives of! :)
David Gerard said 94 days ago:
“We are so, so happy with Google Chrome,” mumbled Mozilla CEO John Lilly through gritted teeth. “That most of our income is from Google has no bearing on me making this statement.” – http://notnews.today.com/?p=57
Paul Mison said 93 days ago:
“Location bar that searches pages in the history: Another Opera innovation” Actually, the first browser that did this was IE5 for Mac, which also searched titles (so typing “BBC News” would bring up a bunch of things you’d looked at from that site).
I’m not sure why I care so much about trying to correct the record, but perhaps it’s something to do with getting something out of those dog years when I stuck with the Mac OS.
Craig said 93 days ago:
I think the most exciting thing Chrome is doing is shifting the idea of web applications from “web” applications to simply applications. The “create application from this page” (or whatever it says – I don’t have Parallels running right now) option is one example.
Perhaps Joe User won’t immediately understand this functionality but imagine a sys admin ‘installing’ – desktop icons and all – Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Reader, etc for all users on their windows network. Right now, with the average user equating web browsing to the internet, it’s not much of a leap to imagine shifting, without users knowing, from locally hosted applications to those running as Chrome processes in chromeless browser windows.
This has been done with other independent implementations of WebKit but the powerful thing about Chrome is both that Google is backing it and it’s being optimized (special js engine, etc) for this specific task.
Much more than Google deploying a browser, Google is, in a sense, deploying a decentralized sub-OS, with all data and applications in the cloud.
boogabloo said 93 days ago:
On page 2 it says “…just as we’ve adopted ideas from others”
I don’t think they were trying to pass off any of their “features” as “innovations”.
Jon B said 93 days ago:
As beta software goes I think it’s a great offering – it’s true that it is just a browser, it’s not wildly innovative in design or usability – it’s just a subtle friendly step forward on what is the current ‘norm’. Where it does something different is it’s V8 JS engine which promotes JS to ‘real’ application speeds, and with it’s general subtle focus on making web apps more app-like (try the ‘create application shortcuts’ option which I believe uses gears – admitedly this is a lot like mozialla’s prism idea too)
So as a browser it is not that radical, but it does demonstrate an evolutionary experience that can only benefit web users going forward – because in terms of speed and stability I think it has now become the one to beat – and competition is a good thing.
wendy said 93 days ago:
Ill be sticking to Opera for browsing and Firefox for dev, even for a BETA this feels too much like a regression to ie6 for my liking.
Andrew Ingram said 93 days ago:
The nicest changes are fairly subtle ones, the omnibar works a lot better than the location bar in firefox and it has one very cool feature.
It automatically picks up sites that specify an OpenSearch description, so say you visit en.wikipedia.org, it’ll pick up wikipedia’s english search function and then whenever you type en.wikipedia.org into the bar and hit tab it turns into a wikipedia search box. I know there are ways of getting this functionality in Firefox but it’s just so seamless in Chrome (you can also alias the search to something else so you don’t have to type the site url).
Mike D. said 93 days ago:
The great browser polygamist strikes again!
Poor Jason Sands, by the way. Getting outranked by Stan in autocomplete…
media boy said 93 days ago:
i’m willing to try it out just to see if it works more efficiently than FireFox… if it’s faster than Firefox and isn’t IE, then i’ll use it
Chromotastic said 93 days ago:
Opera’s top ten feature is still on the start bar:
Clicking on the address field causes the start bar to appear, which offers home, top 10 visited sites, bookmarks, and search features. (http://www.opera.com/support/tutorials/opera/ui/)
… which is nowadays disabled by default. You can either re-activate it, or you go to Extras – Appearance – Buttons – Browser and drag the “Top 10” button to wherever you want it to live.