Google Chrome is new (still in beta) and I went a head and installed it on one of our VMs. It seems like a lot of the functionality from the popular Firefox extension ‘FireBug’ is built in. Here are the screen shots:
Google Chrome Screenshot 1: Main Page
Google Chrome Screenshot 2: Search right from the address bar
Google Chrome Screenshot 3: Browsing History
Google Chrome Screenshot 4: Incognito Browsing
Google Chrome Screenshot 5: Right Clicking a Link Uses Google Gears
Google Chrome Screenshot 6: Inspecting Page Elements a-la Firebug
Google Chrome Screenshot 7: View Source
Ron Peled Web Development, Web-based User Interfaces browser wars, browsers, Screenshots
Google is now officially in the browser business. I guess that the google bars wasn’t enough of a penetration into the browser market and Google wanted/needed additional features (and feedback?) from users. Anyway, Google now offers a new web browser: Chrome. Google also explained briefly why they have decided to launch a new browser. So, what does it mean for us, web developers?
- An additional browser to pay attention to and run tests for. When Google launches a new browser, it is not another niche browser that we can skip in our testing. It is probably going to have a sizeable market share.
- Visit the ‘For Web Developers‘ page posted by Chrome. You will find useful information for what we do. Once piece of advice is if we tested our sites on Safari 3.1 – then the page will work fine on Google Chrome. However, they still post some tips and testing tools.
- Explore and learn V8 – the underlying engine that powers Google Chrome. According to Google V8 is a platform that will help power the next generation of web applications. As mentioned on their ‘Why’ page: “We also built V8, a more powerful JavaScript engine, to power the next generation of web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.”
It is never boring in the world of web development, is it?
Ron Peled Web Development browser, browser wars, chrome, google chrome, V8, web developers, Web Development
Yes, they are here! FireFox version 3 is now available to download and in a month or two every FireFox installation out there will show a dialog to upgrade to 3. Similarly, Microsoft is planning on releasing their Internet Explorer 8 which is now in Beta 1 mode. Regardless, it definitely seems like FireFox is getting a lot of attention lately and the buzz does come on Internet Explorer’s expense:
For us, web developers, it is a mixed blessing. On one hand, we get a better, faster, more reliable browsers. On the other hand, browsers don’t just come into the market and replace old ones instantly, therefore we will now need to test for Internet Explorer (IE) 6, IE7, IE8, FireFox (FF) 2, and FF3. Not mentioning the fact that some browsers like to behave differently on different operating systems which we have to account for as well.
My first impression of FireFox 3 is a positive one. The awesome bar is indeed awesome. Performance wise it does seem to be a bit faster when it comes to AJAX, however I am not sure I notice any difference in general performance. All my necessary plugins released versions that work with FireFox 3 – so I am a happy camper. In our web development work, we did see some sections of sites that work in FF2 and break in FF3 – so be aware that there are some HTML rendering differences.
Now, the question is when will IE8 be ready for us? and what will it bring to the table? Let’s just wait and see…
Ron Peled Web Development browser wars, browsers, firefox, firefox 3, html rendering, internet explorer, internet explorer 8
