martedì 2 settembre 2008

Google Chrome: what's behind...


Official Google Blog: Google Chrome now live

Just a quick thought:
Many people are saying that Google has brought to the market a threat to Windows, that Google Chrome is all about a new Operating System for cloud computing.
I don't agree with them, maybe it could be ALSO that IF Google decides to push the market and try hard (read: invest tons of money) but it's an upward hill.
The main problem isn't Windows' monopoly, or the pretty coolness of Firefox. The wall against which Google would smash on is people laziness. Typical web surfers don't want to be bothered by installing a new browser and this is the single reason because IE has still such a large share despite it sucks so hard.

I think the main influence Google Chrome will bring to the market is its Open Source code. On the video Google rolled out about WHY they developed a browser they say clearly that they want people to learn from the code, help to develop it and copy it. This is an invitation to the Mozilla foundation, Explorer's and Safari's teams to go ahead and use such code to improve their browsers as well.
The result is a better user experience on the web for all, which means more time spent on the internet and more trust in it... and who plays the lion on the web after all?
The very last sentence said in the video is:
Even if Google Chrome itself isn't used by everyone on the web, as long as it makes the web better we've achieved our goal.
Of course Google can try and push its brand new browser up in the market, but still I believe they will have a much larger return on investment from the fact that they open sourced Chrome.
note: All the above argument is based on the assumption that Chrome is in fact well written, my first impression is that yes it is really responsive but we'll see if the code is really that good.



BTW: right now I'm writing using it... And it's pretty cool, of course the main thing I miss from Firefox is the add-ons layer. But I'm positive Chrome will have that too.
Hope a Linux version will soon come out.

UPDATE: Matt Cutts just published a post in which I found several confirms on my clues.
And since everything in Google Chrome is completely open-source, if we come up with a good technology such as V8, which is a blazing-fast, from-the-ground-up implementation of a JavaScript virtual machine, Firefox or anyone else is welcome to yoink it and use it themselves. It may be that innovations from Google Chrome are quickly folded into other browsers. If so, that’s great! That means that people will enjoy a faster, safer, more stable experience on the web.

They are especially proud of the JavaScript machine they built (called V8) and hope to be copied by other browsers. In his article Matt Cutts also explains what is Google's return.
If people like and use the web more, that’s eventually good for Google because they will do more searches. Therefore it’s in Google’s interests to make the web better, more accessible and more useful.