Google Chrome is the next milestone to the web browser experience, a fact that Google would like for you to believe (based on their recent web comic). It is a fact I believe as Chrome is an important milestone, akin to the milestones of the Mozilla/Firefox browser. Historically each step provides a new feature that changes the web experience, the first milestone was the browser itself then graphics followed by JavaScript, flash, and ActiveX. Recent milestones have concerned the software, Firefox becoming extension based, tougher on security, fast, and open-source. Chrome seems to be the next step, turning the browser into a tighter, well knit application.
Chrome may compete with Firefox for the none IE web browser market, but it really lies the groundwork for the next evolution of web browsers, bridging the gap between where the web browser ends and where applications begin. Some of the advancements in Chrome seem to mirror some Mozilla developments (such as Prism and Weave). Chrome’s true power lies in the approach of a browser, turning it from an application with extensions and separate parts for use to one application with everything embedded inside.
While Chrome will become a popular browser its developments will be mirrored in others and it will push IE to the wayside. I believe Chrome and Firefox will compete against one another but only to widen the market share between the two. I also believe that Chrome’s release will usher a more Linux approach to web browsers. Each browser built with their own rendering engine will provide different if not similar tasks. Chrome is built on the webkit rendering engine (think Safari), Mozilla build on the Gecko rendering engine. I can only imagine what’s brewing next from Mozilla as I would assume Firefox 4 will include many of the Chrome developments.
With Chrome’s release while I wrote this post, I’m going to attempt to use Chrome solely for 2 weeks. I will see how it works as an application, a development tool and a piece of software. Throughout this period I plan on taking Chrome apart and posting my discoveries as compared to Firefox. If you want to try Google Chrome, click here.