The New Browser Wars: Is Chrome Shining?

Will Chrome be as much of a success as Google's previous offerings, or is it in need of a bit more spit and polish?

Google has stirred things up yet again this week with the introduction of its Web browser Google Chrome.

Love it or hate it, there is no doubt that there has been a lot of downloading this week to see how Google’s latest offering fits into an already tight marketplace (see Chrome vs. Internet Explorer 8). Chrome differentiates itself largely though its use of isolated tabs, allowing single tabs to crash when bugs are found rather than the entire browser.

(Click here for all of Computerworld's Chrome coverage)

But despite Google's proud touting of Chrome's functionality, alleged security and privacy flaws are already cropping up, including a carpet bomb bug threat and faults in an older version of WebKit used by the browser.

Corporate adoption of Chrome is already being questioned, but advocates have been quick to point out that the browser is still in beta version.

The release of Chrome has caused speculation as to whether Microsoft’s Internet Explorer will remain the browser of choice for the enterprise, and how Mozilla’s Firefox browser will fare against a new open source browser alternative.

Are you using Chrome? Are you worried about security or privacy issues, or will you continue to use Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari?

Is Chrome shining or tarnishing already?


Click here to tell us what you think about Google Chrome!.

References show all

Comments

1

andrewhendry

Fri 05/09/2008 - 15:20

not bad, for the moment

I love the fact that it doesnt close your entire window/tabs when an error is returned in just one tab, that was soooooo annoying on IE and Firefox.... as long as they keep that up I dont mind waiting for the other bugs to iron themselves out. the screen view is good too, nice and spacious, not as cluttered and slow as IE... nice to have another competitor in there wangling away at IE's thoroughly undeserved market monopoly

2

rohan_pearce@idg.com.au

Fri 05/09/2008 - 15:31

yet to try it, but...

I haven't tried Chrome yet but no doubt I'll give it a go. I strongly suspect I'll stick with Firefox, however. One of the big questions is whether by doing this Google will actually be helping to break IE's (still) significant grip on the browser market or whether it will be taking away attention and market share primarily from the dominant 'alternative' browser (i.e., Firefox). My general feeling is that Chrome is a positive development and that Google is enough of a household name that some current IE users will give Chrome a go. This is good news for people who are concerned over security -- I'm not just talking about IE's shoddy security record, either. I think a varied browser 'ecosystem' is actually good for security and and helps strengthen the argument for adherence to web standards. </end rant>

3

caleb_brown@idg.com.au

Fri 05/09/2008 - 15:46

quite impressed

I'm totally impressed at the speed, stability and the uncluttered interface of Chrome, and once it's available for OS X it will probably become my primary browser. For a beta product it is very good.

The added competition this adds to the browser space can only benefit the user in the long run.

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