Finally after a bit of dull patch in technology with nothing new happening, the past week saw the debut of private browsing in IE 8, yeah the most used browser by users and the most hated browser by the so called g33ks. Also, this week the internet is abuzz with Google’s reply to Firefox as the Open Source browser.
Yes, it’s an open source browser, its direct competition is NOT IE but Firefox, I fail to understand why people feel that Chrome is competition to only IE and with Chrome how Google will be able to do what Firefox couldn’t and Opera will never be able to.
Oh and just before I go any further, Chrome was a name given by Microsoft to one of it’s multimedia browser that was not publicly released.
But, then again pitching Chrome against IE gets them a “positive” response as opposed to the possible out-cry they would face if it were marketed as a competitor to Firefox (which it actually competes with).
Firefox – All platforms & open source.
Chrome – All platforms & open source.
IE – ONLY Windows.
So how does Chrome compete with IE? I have no clue what-so-ever! It still is considered as the IE killer. Something Opera & Firefox have been trying to do for long. Safari too joined the fray by coming out with it’s Windows client. IE still prevails and with IE 8 it will regain it’s lost respect, it already is.
Let’s for a moment see what is speculated of Chrome:
The browser has an address bar with auto-completion features.
WOW! Now that is innovation! I mean seriously, this is what I was missing since WW II – a browser with auto-complete for the address bar. But, wasn’t this a feature that was available in IE 5 & 6 but discontinued later on. Go google go! Bring on the features that Microsoft killed!
Not to forget IE 8’s ability to guess and present similar sites and Firefox’s “awesome bar”. pretty certain a mix of both will be in Chrome – Innovation according to the internet.
As a default homepage Chrome presents you with a kind of “speed dial” feature.
Super! Why could no other browser ever figure this one out? Somany years of internet evolution and no browser could figure out that this would be a nice feature to have. err… wait a minute, doesn’t Opera have this since God know when? Go google go! You ain’t copying you’re innovating!
Chrome has a privacy mode; Google says you can create an “incognito” window “and nothing that occurs in that window is ever logged on your computer.”
We shall come to private browsing a bit later.
To fight malware and phishing attempts, Chrome is constantly downloading lists of harmful sites.
eh? What? That’s all that’s new? It has a database of harmful sites? Hmmm … does microsoft.com qualify as a harmful site?
The browser will include a JavaScript Virtual Machine called V8.
Hurray! I shall switch to Chrome because it has faster JavaScript loading.
The acid test says that, out of the 5 big features of Chrome, 3 have been there since ages, but the internet still embraces Chrome. The internet still feels that Chrome will uproot IE in world wide web dominance, what they fail to understand is that Chrome is competition to Firefox and NOT IE.
Coming to the private browsing feature.
IE 8 Beta 2 came out with the InPrivate browsing feature which is the same as the one implemented in Safari for a long time. It’s a good feature, a useful one. Safari has had it for a long time and for the Macboys it was considered as a make or break difference between Safari & IE. Now, that IE comes with it, the same feature becomes quite a “useless” feature in a browser to have!
Everyone goes up in arms saying that Microsoft has “again copied” Apple. But, Chrome gets a heroes welcome. All of a sudden the InPrivate browsing feature becomes something that the adolescents and pedophiles were missing. It becomes “The Porn Mode”, with use of nothing other than browsing porn. Cybercafes? Public computers? I didn’t know they were used for porn only.
Chrome comes out with 3 features that are the same as what other browsers have to offer, it becomes the IE killer and IE comes with a feature that is useful but present in 1 of the contemporaries, it is at the receiving end from most people. Google even copied the damn name!
It’s true: Microsoft damned if they do. Damned if they don’t. It’s about how Microsoft is perceived and not what Microsoft brings to the table. People hate Microsoft and not it’s products.
I kinda forget what that word was, something like hyp-o-crite. Yeah, that was it.