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moep · Sep 1, 2008, 02:52 PM

Google apparently just announced their own web browser.
It will be called “Google Chrome” and completely open source. The rendering engine will be Webkit.

The only announcement I could find was in form of a comic:

http://blogoscoped.com.nyud.net/google-chrome/

more information can be found here:

http://blogoscoped.com.nyud.net/arch...09-01-n47.html

I couldn’t find anything official yet — the only hint is that http://www.google.com/chrome points to an unusual 404 page, very different from other 404s.

rickey939 · Sep 1, 2008, 05:42 PM

Bah.

selowitch · Sep 1, 2008, 06:12 PM

Um ... how about a version for Mac OS X? Will there be one?

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Sep 1, 2008, 11:30 PM

It is being released WINDOWS ONLY tomorrow. Mac and Linux "to follow":

We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/...n-browser.html

Webkit-based browser and Windows only on release? Way to alienate a BIG hunk of the web developing community, Google.

Maflynn · Sep 2, 2008, 07:30 AM

They're announcing a browser in a comic.

I could come up with a better way to unveil something. I suspect this "announcement" was a mistake and the real one is going to occur any day.

moep · Sep 2, 2008, 02:09 PM

The webcast is on now.

http://google.client.shareholder.com...3101&Player=1#

They are currently explaining the whole comic thing.

Chuckit · Sep 2, 2008, 03:31 PM

I'm going to be a weirdo and say that I think it's fine they're releasing the Mac version separately. That hopefully means they're actually putting some thought into platform-specific UI rather than attempting some cross-platform monstrosity.

moep · Sep 2, 2008, 03:52 PM

Since sunspider is down right now (probably getting hammered), I ran the browsers through mozilla’s dromaeo to test javascript engine performance.

http://dromaeo.com/?id=20785 latest safari squirrelfish nightly: 1110 ms
http://dromaeo.com/?id=20795 latest firefox tracemonkey nightly: 1394 ms
http://dromaeo.com/?id=20805 google chrome v8 beta: 415 ms
IE8 did not finish, it tried to cancel the slow running script to keep the browser from freezing.

angelmb · Sep 2, 2008, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

I'm going to be a weirdo and say that I think it's fine they're releasing the Mac version separately. That hopefully means they're actually putting some thought into platform-specific UI rather than attempting some cross-platform monstrosity.

Catfish_Man · Sep 4, 2008, 02:57 AM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

I'm going to be a weirdo and say that I think it's fine they're releasing the Mac version separately. That hopefully means they're actually putting some thought into platform-specific UI rather than attempting some cross-platform monstrosity.

Having talked with some of the engineers working on it, I agree with you. They're serious about doing it right.

Hopefully I'll be able to contribute something useful once the basic structure of the UI is in place

patrix · Sep 4, 2008, 04:42 AM

I believe the Linux and Mac versions aren't ready yet because of the way Chrome is architectured (each tab as a seperate jailed process, etc) - architecture that is heavily OS-dependant. So they went ahead and released the Windows version (largest market, no matter what we think about Windows) to get it out and in the hands of people hot on the heels of IE8beta2 and Firefox3, rather than wait and be forgotten...

Seems to be working, cuz the whole net's a-buzz with it. Runs fine in VMWare, not quite convincing yet as I don't use that many javascript-heavy webapps lol...

Patrix.

Sherman Homan · Sep 4, 2008, 06:30 AM

Any one concerned with the ability of Chrome to store your keystrokes?!

Google's Omnibox could be Pandora's box
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10...ml?tag=nl.e433

FTA:

The auto-suggest feature of Google's new Chrome browser does more than just help users get where they are going. It will also give Google a wealth of information on what people are doing on the Internet besides searching.

Google will have access to any keystrokes that are typed into the browser's Omnibox, even before a user hits enter.

What's more, Google has every intention of retaining some of that data even after it provides the promised suggestions.

JLL · Sep 4, 2008, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

I'm going to be a weirdo and say that I think it's fine they're releasing the Mac version separately. That hopefully means they're actually putting some thought into platform-specific UI rather than attempting some cross-platform monstrosity.

Since the Windows version doesn't have any Window-specific UI elements other than the placement of the close/zoom/collapse buttons, I don't think it will look much different on Mac OS X.

patrix · Sep 4, 2008, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Sherman Homan

Any one concerned with the ability of Chrome to store your keystrokes?!

Google's Omnibox could be Pandora's box
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10...ml?tag=nl.e433

FTA:

When you install Chrome, it asks you if you want to enable that option or not, and you can always turn it on/off later from the options.

Patrix.