Google Unleashes ‘Chrome’ to Enter Browser Competition
Earlier it was Yahoo, and now it is Google’s turn to cause worries within Microsoft’s management team. The search monster has released a new Web browser to quench its thirst of capturing a larger Internet search market share and give Microsoft a run for money.
Till date, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has ruled the Web, but with Chrome, it may have to work on a new strategy to maintain its dominant position in the browser war. Google has promoted its latest product as a sleeker, faster, safer and reliable substitute to Internet Explorer (IE), despite facing competition from other players such as Mozilla’s Firefox. This is because ‘IE’ is used by roughly 75 per cent of the world’s Web population even today.
Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder told reporters that the company wants a diverse and vibrant ecosystem and also several browsers that are viable and substantial choices.
One of the features of Chrome is that users will be able to either enter an address in the navigation bar or type a search query that will be processed through their preferred search engine. As expected, Google bets majority of Chrome users would use it as the default search engine, which will help expand its about 64 per cent share of the global search market.
This is not the only aspect for Microsoft to worry about, as Google is also counting on Chrome to become the key player in its attempt to distribute extensively used computer applications such as spreadsheets, calendars and word processing through the browser instead of as programs installed on personal machines. With this, there is a possible threat to Microsoft’s sales of its Office software package, leading to a weakening bottom-line.
Back in 1990s, Microsoft, with its Web browser thumped Netscape Communications and started its dominance in the browser war. Today, when there is a possibility of it facing the music with the launch of Chrome, Microsoft predicts that majority of the people will embrace its newest version, Internet Explorer 8, introduced in test status just recently.
Also Firefox, which has managed to capture over 10 per cent of the market share, thanks to an advertising and search partnership with Google, may benefit the search giant with its huge customer base. Moreover, it is learnt that the ad alliance was extended through 2011 recently.
Chrome looks forward to setting new standards for browsers by allowing Web pages as well as applications to function on separate tabs that won’t crash in case there is some issue on another tab. Also, users can move the tabs on a page or even place them on a computer desktop.
Another unique aspect about Chrome is that it will remember a user’s preferred destinations and thus display the nine most visited sites automatically in a tab. For personal preferences, it also comprises of an ‘incognito’ tab that conceals the Web surfing activity, if users don’t wish someone else to know where they visited on the internet.
However, one of the biggest advantages with Internet Explorer is that it is already built-in and pre-installed on the hard disks of most machines which operate on Microsoft Windows.
Considering this advantage that Microsoft has, Google therefore plans to explore deals that would help it pre-install its browser, which would prove to be an investment rather than an expense in the long run for the search king.
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I’ve heard comments that Chrome might be OS independent in order to be a thin client option. It wasn’t clear if this gossip means it runs on Win/Lin/Mac or if is its own OS and doesn’t need any of them.
While I do like using Chrome, I do have reservations about letting Google snoop everything I do on my pc.