TR: The browser and the operating system are becoming increasingly difficult to tell apart aren't they?
LB: "Some people think that when they don't have Wi-fi access and their browser isn't working their computer is broken!
"It's interesting; it's seems like when people are buying new machines they don't install native apps. They get a new computer and all they use is the browser.
"The web is becoming an integral part of the computer and the basic distinction between the OS and the browser doesn't matter very much any more.
"In terms of Google and Chrome all internal apps are web based so we're adopting all the stuff inside the browser already."
TR: So should speed be the deciding factor when it comes to browser choice?
LB: "One also has to have your priorities straight why you are selecting a browser. Speed is certainly a factor but so is robustness. In Chrome we really tried to make it a robust browser.
"People also like the simplicity which means you can understand what's going on.
"I think its speed is important, but also the speed of whole browser, as we move on and as we have more standardised web apps, it will be easier to measure the performance of a browser as a whole."
TR: With Windows 7 arriving and IE8 are people still going to move to non-default browsers like Chrome of Firefox?
LB: "I think since the download is just one click away it's not that big a deal.
"At first you will get techies, but people are influenced by them – so I don't know if it will change it but hopefully competition will allow the user to download the browser that suits them best.
TR: Chrome is still relatively new – how is it performing?
LB: "The feedback we've had on chrome is tremendously positive. Its first final release came out in December so it is only a quarter-year old and bearing that in mind I think we have a fairly good market share. Everyone already has a browser so it will take a while, but if you have the right features, people will come.
"We want to make it better for users, and with the complexity of web apps taking off these days what you see is more features and more capabilities.
"I love the basic fact that people do not have to update a web app; whenever they start the app in the web browser they get the updated application."
Your comments (5) Click to add a new comment
fippety
March 3rd 2009
5. "THE ONLY MAINSTREAM Browser in which the OS does NOT matter to the user is FIREFOX, full-stop!"
Nope :)
Opera is available for a heck of a lot more platforms than Firefox, including just about every mobile platform out there.
I have to agree with the Chrome people that the OS is quickly losing importance. Some time in the future, the OS will handle startup and drivers, and not much else. You'll do just about everything through the browser. Including games and image editing! It will happen gradually, and will take a few years, but it will get there. Wait and see.
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josvazg
March 2nd 2009
4. "The web is becoming an integral part of the computer and the basic distinction between the OS and the browser doesn't matter very much any more.
Don't make me laugh!!
So THAT is the reason Chrome was written/designed ONLY with Windows in mind, because the OS doesn't matter?
THAT is the reason MAC and Linux versions will be appearing nearly a year afterwards the Windows version?
[And lets see when the Linux version comes out, it might be a subproduct compared to the Windows one.]
RIGHT NOW the OS matters, if you are running Chrome you ARE running WINDOWS... AND probably in the future, if you are running Chrome with the latest bells&Whistles and Addons... you'll probably have to be in Windows still.
THE ONLY MAINSTREAM Browser in which the OS does NOT matter to the user is FIREFOX, full-stop!
And what I understand the least is that they should be pushing the Linux version BEFORE any other OS just to make it work perfectly under Android (which is Linux based, Chrome does NOT run on android now, or does iy?).
I really don't understand these guys at Google!
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fippety
February 28th 2009
3. patrickgoss: Again, haven't Apple and Mozilla been doing that for ages already?
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patrickgoss
February 27th 2009
2. @fippety It allowed Javascript applications to run at the speed of a compiled binary
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fippety
February 26th 2009
1. "Bak heads up the development of the v8 JavaScript engine in Chrome, one of the key features of Google's browser and also one of the most innovative."
Is this supposed to be some kind of lame joke?
Innovative??
Both Mozilla and Apple did this AGES before Chrome!
Seriously, is this supposed to be "journalism"?
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