Chrome exits beta

Google Chrome has had its first release which you can download from here. For a company that is known for its plethora of beta products, Google’s move to remove the beta moniker from Chrome is perhaps an indication of how strategic the browser is to the company. In the recent past, Chrome updates have been coming thick and fast which has led to gradual improvement in the browser. I have been fond of Chrome for its fast start up time as well as stability. However it has proved to be well suited for developing web applications. The ability to inspect elements of a page and see the CSS attributes applied them have proven quite useful in troubleshooting and tweaking CSS designs as well as JavaScript.

Browser competition has heated up in the recent past with all major browser currently having a better release. Microsoft is working out the details of IE 8 and Mozilla is polishing Firefox 3.1. These two browsers currently dominate the market share and Google’s Chrome will be looking to become relevant. Usage data for Chrome currently put the number of active users at 10 million which is barely 1% of the web surfing public.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer leverages the Windows monopoly on desktop operating systems which means that every installation of Windows comes with Internet Explorer and of course Microsoft services like Windows Update can be used to push new versions of Internet Explorer to desktop users.

Firefox is largely credited with igniting competition in the browser space and there are those amongst the ranks of Mozilla who believe that it is Firefox that reminded Microsoft to pay attention to Internet Explorer and make improvements such as tab browsing in IE 7. Its key advantage is the large number of extensions that have been built around Firefox. There are extensions of all kinds and users have come to rely on these extensions.

The main selling point of Google Chrome is its speed and stability. Its interface is clean and simple. How this proceeds going forward will be interesting to watch since an increase in the number of users will most likely lead to requests for features which may very well include an extension mechanism. Extensions can slow down the performance of a browser and so Google has a balancing act to pull off.

The increased use of AJAX in developing web applications has put some focus on JavaScript performance. Chrome uses the V8 JavaScript engine which is quite fast and Mozilla with Firefox 3.1 is using TraceMonkey. For some comparison of performance, please check this out (Note: comparison is between Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 and Chrome beta version).

Firefox 3 Record setting ways; IE Team Sent a Cake – awww

The web is a blaze with news of the 9 million downloads that the recently released Firefox 3 garnered. That is 9 million downloads within a period of 24 hours. Firefox 3 has come a long way in; I have been using it since its alpha releases and hence I hardly see any cause for excitement about the release but it is truly an improvement. Memory utilization is better as compared to Firefox 2 and the awesome bar is great though it does take some getting used to.

That aside, the Internet browser war may be back up on us once again and it is indeed a joyous time for netizens. Such competition should lead to some innovation as each camp attempts to out do their rivals. An increasingly visible Apple is pushing Safari and sometimes using questionable tactics like offering the said browser as an update to Apple software. Firefox 3 does install itself as the default browser on the machine though this setting can be changed at the browser preference window.

A mention of browsers would not be complete without a reference to Internet Explorer which is the market leader at the onset of of the Browser Wars 2.0 and the current production release of IE is version 7 though beta 2 of IE 8 is in the works. One of the positive side effects of the emergence of Firefox as a browser is the resurgent interest and investment in IE which has resulted in tabs featuring in IE 7 and a push for better standards compliance in IE 8. In general Opera has always been viewed as the more standards compliant browser in the market but for some reason it didn’t effectively challenge the dominance of IE.

Most people would probably remember what happened to Netscape during Browser Wars 1.0 and the war did bring the true colors of Microsoft to the public’s eye; However with Wars 2.0, Microsoft’s IE Team sent Mozilla a cake to congratulate the latter on the release of Firefox 3.

Source: http://media.arstechnica.com/news.media/450/IMAG0073.jpg 

Jokes aside, consider the symbolic meaning of the Mozilla team eating that e? Yes, very cannibal – so let us have a good, clean fight over who comes out with the best browser. Underhanded tricks will probably be displayed more openly but then again we hope that users join in the fun as well. Notice the rise of Firefox and the level of support that it has as reflected by the sheer number of extensions and addons that are available for the browser. 9 millions downloads thus far speaks of an ability to market the browser through the strength of the community surrounding the browser. Browser users can play a very clear and important role in refereeing Browser Wars 2.0