Google made a pre-release version of its newopen source Internet web browser, Chrome, publicly available for Windows XP and Vista users. Curious web surfers can try out the new browser by downloading it here. Designed for reliability and speed, Chrome poses a potential threat to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which currently enjoys about a 75% market share of personal computer desktops, and also to Mozilla Firefox, which has made rapid strides after releasing a new version earlier this summer.
Early reviews of the initial version of Chrome has been positive. For example, TechCrunch’s Don Reisinger reported:
Google Chrome is not only one of the fastest browsers I’ve ever used, it’s easily one of the best. The install was quick and easy. In a matter of seconds (literally), I downloaded the application from the company’s site and installed it on my PC. Once up, Chrome asked to import the data from Firefox and I was off.
The first thing that will strike you about Chrome is its soft, yet elegant interface. Unlike other browsers, which sport clutter, Chrome doesn’t do anything of the sort. Instead, it makes tabs the primary element of the software, which can be dragged around and moved as needed on the fly. You can already do that in Safari, but in Chrome, it’s simply much easier.
But perhaps more than anything, you’ll notice just how fast Chrome is immediately. After just ten minutes of jumping from site to site, I was amazed by how quickly I was able to get around. And unlike some browsers (I won’t mention any names), opening a slew of tabs doesn’t matter — it’s just as fast with or without tabs.
Google released an overview of Chrome - in comic book form, no less - which describes the new browser’s features and architecture. In summary, the browser’s advantages include:
- A design that protects multiple simultaneous web browsing sessions, each managed in a separate tab in the browser interface. If one session fails, then only that tab closes down, while the other browsing sessions continue. This architecture promises to manage memory more efficiently, and therefore improve performance.
- The “Omnibox”, which lets you input a web address or search the web in the address bar - one appears in each tabbed web session. This is similar to the “Awesome Bar” now found in Firefox 3.0, but with some additional refinements such as more intelligent storage of web browsing history.
- User-driven initial homepage, which stores snapshots of your most commonly visited sites, so that you can access them with a single click. This is similar to favorite site bookmarks, but more visually appealing and easier to access.
- A more user-friendly security architecture, which should provide better protection against malware and phishing sites.
- Better processing of Javascript, which promises faster web site browsing speeds.
- An “incognito” mode, which provides more privacy by eliminating the recording of personal web browsing data.
Should salespeople use Chrome?
Google’s new browser has a lot going for it - a theoretically strong architecture that promises faster processing speed and more efficient use of memory, a simple and easy-to-use interface, the backing of a giant in web application development, and many other potential advantages. Microsoft and Mozilla are right to take notice. But they shouldn’t panic just yet.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer owns a very dominant market share now, and their upcoming IE8 version (now also in beta release), due later this year, should provide enough performance and feature improvements to slow down any large-scale migration to a new browser. Mozilla’s Firefox 3.0, released earlier this year, already provides lightning-fast performance, better memory management, a clean user interface, and many features planned for Chrome. Firefox’s planned 3.1 upgrade, due before the end of the year, should also provide very significant performance improvement for Javascript, among other new features.
So, what’s a sales professional to do? Go ahead and try out the early version of Chrome, if you’re curious, but there’s no immediate need to switch from your current browser. Although Chrome has a lot of potential, Firefox has something Chrome doesn’t have: a huge array of free plug-ins and extensions that allow users to customize and tailor their web browsing experience. Chrome is being released as open source software, just like Firefox, so it could attract a library of add-ons eventually. On the other hand, because Chrome is open source, there’s no reason why Mozilla couldn’t incorporate Chrome functionality into Firefox, and provide the best of both worlds.
There’s little doubt that Google’s Chrome browser is going to make an impact. But it won’t take over the market overnight.
Tags: Chrome, Firefox web browser, Google, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Mozilla
In this episode of the Selling Geek podcast, we review the top five most popular web browsers, and evaluate them in terms of their utility to sales professionals. We also provide specific web browser recommendations to salespeople using Macs, Linux-based systems, or Windows-based computers.
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