Rock star welcome for Dr Kalam - Nanyang Technological University

THE NANYANG CHRONICLEIN A completely unexpectedmove, search giant Google Inc.released an in-progress version ofits Chrome browser last week tomuch fanfare, after accidentallyleaking a 38-page comic book onits features and workings.The open-source browser,compiled from at least 26 differentcode libraries, was designed withspeed, stability and security inmind, according to a Googlespokesperson.While it would undoubtedly befoolish to call Google an underdogin whatever new market it choosesto enter, the fact is that in the realmof the browsers, it is. Over 73% ofthe world’s internet users use aversion of Microsoft’s InternetExplorer (IE), and Microsoft hasbeen taking notice of anotherupstart in the browser market,Mozilla Corporation’s Firefox,another open-source effort funded(in part) by Google. The Redmondgiant has already taken steps toinnovate IE8, the next version ofthe ubiquitous browser.With such an entrenched userbase on IE, analysts speculate thatChrome might be cannibalizingon Firefox market share instead.Even then, that would be an uphilltask for Google, since Firefoxbrings along a large community ofdevelopers and a whole buffet ofextension and add-on options.But Google’s Senior VicePresident for IT research, DavidMitchell, is unperturbed: “It’s inour interest to make the internetbetter, and without competition,we have stagnation.”And the folks at Redmondshould indeed be worried. WithChrome, users would probablybe able to integrate Google’soffice suite and streaming siteYouTube more seamlessly thanwith competing browsers. Notto mention the slew of otherapplications that have began theirexodus off the desktop and to theonline realm.The disdain for Microsoft isnot even concealed: Google’s aimsfor Chrome include turning thebrowser into “a great foundation forsophisticated web applications thatcompete with desktop programs”,according to a post on the officialGoogle blog.If Google gets its right, userswill spend more time on theirbrowsers than anywhere elseon the computer, making theoperating system – Microsoft’sprimary source of revenue –largely irrelevant.So what happens when you pitthe largest web company in theworld against the largest softwarecompany in the world? A hell of afight for sure.A MORE VERSATILE HOME: Chrome tricks out the homepage to include frequently visited sites, recently closed tabs, bookmarks and a search bar. PHOTO | INTERNETChrome brings many thingsto the table, not least of all a reexaminationof what the venerablebrowser can do.The browser’s list ofcompelling features begins withits multiprocess architecture.By having every tab and everywindow run its own process, aslowdown, misrender or crash inone process would not affect therest of the pages being browsed.This approach also increasessecurity by sandboxing, whichis the isolation of each site andpage in a limited environment,preventing malware from easilycrossing over to the desktop.A major grouse with the adventof tabbed browsing was thatcomparing two web pages side-bysidehas become a chore. Chrometackles this problem by allowingusers to pull a tab out and intoits own window and to replaceit back as easily. The options ofstarting the browser in differenttab configurations and allowingfor tabs to be grouped togetheralso makes tabbed browsing moreuser-friendly than previouslythought possible.Chrome’s high peformanceJavascript engine, dubbed V8, hasalso bested both IE and Firefoxin most speed tests conductedtill date, making it the speediestbrowser in the market today.In a nod towards Opera,Chrome has also reinterpretedwhat a homepage is. The defaultdynamic homepage displays thenine most-visited sites, withsnapshots to boot, together withthe most commonly used searchengine and bookmarks. Prefera traditional homepage? Thesetting can be changed easily.As with all new releases,and even with the mightyGoogle, Chrome still has roomfor improvement.Last Monday’s discoveryof a critical vulnerability inthe browser, which could haveallowed a malicious third-partyto take control of the affected PC,shows that even after two yearsof internal development bugsdo crop up sometimes. To thecompany’s credit, a patch wasreleased shortly that eliminatedthe problem.Another area that Chrome isseverely lacking at the momentis a sizeable community ofdevelopers to build an ecosystemof add-ons and plug-ins for thef ledging browser, for whichboth its biggest competitors IE(and Firefox especially) have inspades. Without such support,Google, no matter its technologicaland financial muscle, will behard pressed to entice users awayfrom their current browsers that,with near-endless options forcustomization, have made the websurfingexperience richer.Whatever the case may be,there is little doubt that the browserwars have been blown wide openwith the release of Chrome. It isnot so much a question of whetherGoogle’s new toy will succeed, butthe extent to which it will redefinehow we look at and use the internet.If the search giant manages to spurfurther innovation in the browserarena, consumers are sure tob e n e fi t .The dark horse might justbecome the shiny new thoroughbredin town.