Web

Google Rewires the Browser

(Page 2 of 2)

  • Wednesday, September 3, 2008
  • By Kate Greene

Web ready: Chrome features a minimal user interface and shows users recently visited sites when a new tab is opened. Each tab also runs as a unique “process” to improve speed and stability.
Technology Review

Another benefit of running browser tabs separately, Google says, is increased security. Usually, when hackers try to install malware on a computer via the browser, they look for bugs in a component called the rendering engine. Chrome runs separate rendering engines and segregates each one with another layer of protection. "It's an extra level of security," says Fisher. This means a hacker would need to find not only a bug in the rendering engine but one in the protection layer in order for the malware to make its way out of the browser and into a computer.

Other features resemble improvements offered in the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox. For instance, the address bar--which Google dubs the Omni bar--automatically provides suggested search terms and Web page addresses and can be configured to work with a number of popular search engines. Chrome also offers a private browsing mode, called Incognito, in which no identifying information is recorded during Web surfing. Web history and search information are automatically cleared from the computer and the browser's memory when an incognito tab is closed.

Microsoft, for its part, only recently introduced Internet Explorer 8, a browser that boasts a number of improvements over previous versions. In a statement regarding the Chrome release, Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer, says, "The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and--more than any other browsing technology--puts them in control of their personal data online."

At Google's press conference on Tuesday, competition with Microsoft was not on the agenda. "In the case of Chrome, we saw an opportunity to rewrite the browser from scratch," said Brin, adding that the browser's source code would be made freely available for anyone, including Microsoft, to modify and reuse. "The open-source community can evolve [Chrome] further, into an even more powerful engine for the Web," he said.

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LenovoguySA

3 Comments

  • 1258 Days Ago
  • 09/04/2008

STILL SLOW

The browser is still slow in loading pages, even slower that internet explorer. But i still believe that when the few bugs are fixed, its gonna be the best browser ever. One nice feature is that i did not have to configure settings for LAN, after installation everything was ready to go, just entered my login details and i was surfing. For the moment i will stick to Firefox, fastest of all of them. Its amazing how far firefox has come. Safari died on me, updated did not make a difference, it only loads google.com

Reply

donaokka

3 Comments

  • 1256 Days Ago
  • 09/06/2008

Re: STILL SLOW

i donnt think so
now i am using this browser and the google browser is more quick than ie; and the chrome did not chose the kernel that ie used ; so you will avoid many internet virus

Reply

LenovoguySA

3 Comments

  • 1254 Days Ago
  • 09/08/2008

Re: STILL SLOW

I change my mind, its actually fast. but its still incompatible with some sites.

Reply

cgs31u1p

1 Comment

  • 1258 Days Ago
  • 09/04/2008

Java Issue

I tried to use it for a game site (pogo.com) and the games wouldn't play because Java was not detected through the browser. I checked the settings and options and couldn't find anything referring to Java, but I'm still playing with it. I definitely like the "clean" appearance of it.

Reply

edunagin

6 Comments

  • 1258 Days Ago
  • 09/04/2008

Crome Browser

The announcement said that the use of  tabs was the most useful feature. I use tabs on Firefox and Galeon and they work quite well. I don't see this as an improvement. More PR stuff!!

Reply

LarryH

11 Comments

  • 1257 Days Ago
  • 09/05/2008

Re: C[h]rome Browser

I think the point is not that Chrome has tabs--every new browser has tabs--but that applications running in the tabs are walled off from each other. If one of those apps hangs, it doesn't hang the whole browser.

Reply

gabrielg01

450 Comments

  • 1257 Days Ago
  • 09/05/2008

"Chrome" is not enough...Firefox rules!

Google should learn from the American car manufacturers. Loading a lot of chrome on the car does not make it a better car. The "big three"s perennial losing streak is a reminder of that.

Now even software is "chromed". Jesus!

Anyhow, no browser comes even close to Firefox.

Reply

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jpm000001

8 Comments

  • 1257 Days Ago
  • 09/05/2008

ok w/e...

... let's see an O/S instead!

Reply

shishir0610

5 Comments

  • 1252 Days Ago
  • 09/10/2008

Chrome has some rendering issues. It does not work well with all the sites. It even has issues rendering the map on the picasaweb page.

Google needs to do something about it. Also, it might be one of Google's plans to slowly push in their ads on to the browser so even if you are not browsing a website which has ads by Google, chrome still produces them to you based on your surfing hence, Google gains a lot of real estate on the web without even having to pay to the user.
OR they could go ahead and even start paying the user from the money that is generated from ads on the browser. Like Microsoft is doing to ads on Live search.

Reply

7nobles

1 Comment

  • 1239 Days Ago
  • 09/23/2008

Chrome users in small bandwidth Areas

I am not going to pretend that I know it all but I am going to comment based on my experience with  Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), Firefox 3.0.1 and Google Chromes. I have been using IE7 before I upgraded to IE8 when Microsoft launched it recently. Mozilla firefox has also been with me before I downloaded the 3.0.1 version a week or two ago from from Yahoo! I installed all three of them and I have test driven all three of them. In fact, I have all three pinned to my quick launch pad. I use a Dell Inspiron 1520 Core 2 Duo (Intel) and I reside  in an area (West Africa) where we still have the challenges of small bandwidth. From my experience I would openly assert that Google Chrome browser does some 'automagic'. Where Firefore 3.0.1 and IE8 crawl to a halt unable to 'cope' with the signals coming in trickles, Chrome chugs painstakingly on until my page is completely loaded. The only issue I have with Chrome is its difficulty in downloading PDF files. When I want to download PDF file I usually opt for IE8 because it allows my internet downloader software do the job. I made Chrome my default browser and I tell you sometimes it could be a 'jealous bride',it wants to monitor and manage every extensions and protocols. However, Chrome browser is really a 'man friday' when browsing speed gets so slow. IE8 and firefox3.0.1 will usually back off. If you don't believe me, maybe you should bring your PC to any average cybercafe in Nigeria and get a feel of what I am talking about. The creator of both IE8 and Firefox 3.0.1 did a fantastic job but it seems to me that they released their latest versions into circulation so as to maintain their esteemed places in the hearts of surfers and internet users. It feels safe for me to conclude that Google Chrome creators had concerns for the plights of surfers who reside in small bandwidth areas. Firefox may rule in broadband areas but Chrome champions our course down here in my zone!

PS. Nobody paid me to do this. I just wrote from a sincere heart and experience.      
-7nobles

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