Once again, Google takes on Microsoft! Why?!?

I'm using the beta version of Chrome and it is very fast, easy to use and understand.
I've watched MS from the very beginning and their bullying thieving ways. I'm glad to see another bright spot in this industry. MS brought this on themselves so wallow in it.

I don't mind Google creating a browser. I like Google Chrome! To me, it's faster than FF and IE. It doesn't display everything quite as well as the other two, but I think it will in time. Even though they are funding FF, Google does something new every week it seems like, so this doesn't surprise me much. Still waiting on that Android Phone!

Corey is a "conspiracy theorist" and is "coming across so nutty"? Really?

I think I was really too polite in my previous comment. Corey you are nothing short of a conspiracy theorist! How on earth you got: “We don’t care if they use Firefox or Google Chrome. We just don’t want them to use IE” from “Our hope is that by adding our voice, more users will realize there is a choice.” is completely beyond me. It seems even if they explicitly stated that their target is not the IE market, you'd twist it to mean exactly that. Which is what makes you come across so nutty!

No matter how I look at it, I can't help but feel that they're actually referring to Firefox, which is a far better browser than the lumbering IE7. Either way, at the very least they appear to be saying "Hey we've ALSO got a good browser to use, and we want a slice of the market". There's room for everyone. Not everything is about knocking IE or Microsoft...

I have trouble reading all these tortured conspiracy theories, squawking loudly about 'anti-Microsoft this' and 'anti-IE that'. Anyone familiar with how businesses work will realize they are much like bacteria, and they are in competition for survival. The best way to survive is to be better at finding ways to adapt to the environment and leveraging the available resources than the competition. Google have repeatedly shown the ability to evolve to meet and exceed market expectations, often shaming their opposition in the process. It is smart business and it is entirely expected.

Microsoft is NOT computing, it is NOT the web. They have NOT shown the ability to evolve well in the last 5 years (think of the bloated Vista and IE7), and a natural fallout of this is that other entities like Mozilla and Google will scream past the spluttering Microsoft, waving cheerily, as they go about their business of pushing technology forward.

Diversity, innovation and competition are GOOD things. Anyone who is the least bit miffed by this needs to take a look at whether they really care about seeing web standards improve, or whether they are just being loyal for the sake of being loyal.

Interesting...I think the business world is all about choices and more choices. It does get overwhelming. Actually, I'm ready for something new! (o;

The real reason they are doing this was actually admitted during the Q&A today.

I quote:

"Our hope is that by adding our voice, more users will realize there is a choice."

In other words, "We don't care if they use Firefox or Google Chrome. We just don't want them to use IE"

I don't think it's much of a conspiracy theory to believe that Microsoft and Google are quite simply "going at" each other. By my reading of the IE8 features they may have an option that will break Google Analytics and Adsense. This just happens to coincide with Microsoft's attempts to create an Adsense alternative. Google of course wants to put away Microsoft's capability to hurt them in this way. I think there's absolutely no love lost between these two.

Oh yeah, and I'll make another prediction...

We already have experimental clothing etc. to connect to the internet.

Science fiction writers have predicted for decades now that someday we'll all have some kind of biological implant that will connect us up.

I actually believe this is true - and not that far away.

I've often wished "Can't I just THINK this work and get it done?"

Guess what - someday it's going to happen.

I'm not sure I view this as a "let's try to hurt Microsoft" move. One could easily make the argument that Google entering the market only serves to splinter the market further. There are basically two types of internet users. Those that use IE because it's the default browser (i.e. path of least resistance) and those that are a little more technology savvy and will try other browsers like Firefox, Safari or now Chrome. From a technical / feature perspective, IE has been behind the competition for quite a while, yet it still maintains a commanding lead market share wise. Unfortunately, that doesn't say much for the overall user base.

On the other hand, if Chrome does get some traction, particularly at the expense of IE, this wouldn't exactly be a terrible thing. Right now, Microsoft has little incentive to conform to W3C standards. They obviously haven't felt the need to put out a competitive product either, though I'm hopeful that IE8 will be a big step in the right direction.

I'm not sure how Mozilla and Apple feel about this competition. Though, I would expect Apple isn't terribly upset to see another Webkit based browser out there. The higher the market share, the more web developers are forced to test code for that audience, etc., not to mention conform to web standards.

From a business perspective, think of the money Google is paying all of the browser makers for using the Google search box. Every search coming from the Chrome browser is money saved for Google.

Finally, as another poster already mentioned, this is an excellent opportunity to provide a delivery mechanism for Google Gears. Just like Microsoft has a delivery mechanism for IE through Windows and Apple has a delivery mechanism for Quicktime through iTunes, etc. That's how the game is played. You can't blame Google for trying to play on the same level.

Competition is a good thing. I only wish market share was a more accurate reflection on browser quality.

I agree with Nick W. 100%. At the risk of sounding like Cassandra, I could tell this was coming as soon as MS started up Office Live and Google started its web-based apps. The concept of having 'thin client' devices, everything from a phone to your TV to your PC to your refrigerator online, is definitely the future. Or at the very least, a "phase" we're going to go through. And the company that ends up at the center of this vortex is going to be the biggest winner - as well as the biggest Big Brother since, well, I won't go into that :-)

Whether it turns out to be a GOOD future is still in question to me. What I don't want to see is a return to a situation where competing systems are incompatible and the poor consumer is left having to choose, then switch, then switch back again, etc.

I have other concerns too as to whether the 'cloud' will work. The U.S. infrastructure is not ready for it and has a loooong way to go to catch up. I still have a land-line phone because the power glitches daily and goes out frequently. One good storm around here and we have no power for a week. Some residents around here STILL can't get a high-speed internet connection. My job depends on accessing my data - what happens if all my apps and data are remotely hosted and my power goes out or internet connection goes down (like it does now, about noon every Wed)?

I definitely believe we are headed in the direction Nick talked about, but that it will be an experiment on a grand scale. If it works, it will be a technological, economic, and social revolution.

Ok, so I just learned a little more about this. If you do enough searching around the web, you will find that IE is planning to create an option where you can choose to not show Google AdSense in the next version.

Imagine that? So maybe this could be a bit of a self-defense mechanism by Google? Interesting. The plot thickens.

By the way, for those of you that don't know me, I'm not much of a "conspiracy theory" guy. It just irritates me that Google does one thing well and therefore feels that they need to do EVERYTHING.

Imagine McDonalds reaching out to start selling kitchen products. Sure, they are the number one fast food restaurant chain. But do they need to do EVERYTHING connected with food?

That's what I feel Google is doing here. Someday it will hurt them. They could use some focus.

Then again, I also think this is all just a way to get Google in the news. Have you ever noticed that they barely ever advertise or do typical PR? They just do things that sound amazing.

Free attention!

I can see why Google have done this. They are running full throttle towards the utopia of "cloud computing" - where every machine is a thin client that connects to services hosted at their massive datacentres. This means you can access from your work PC, home PC, car or even microwave. Any console will be able to pull up your data.

You should read Nick Carr's book - The Big Switch" to see where this is heading. http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/bigswitch/

In this world Microsoft is powerless. Why pay for Windows when you can just use Linux as the operating base? Why buy MS Office when you can access these applications through Google Apps? And importantly the browser becomes central - the gateway through which everyone uses the computer. Not just for searching but now for every_other_function from project management to writing documents.

With this in mind you can see why they would want to control this part of the puzzle. It is obvious they have thought a lot about this to get a complete new ground-up construction to enable JavaScript to run faster. This is a central part of web app functionality.

I don't think this will kill Microsoft but it certainly pushes them to get in the game even faster. They too are developing internet based software to compete in this race to "cloud computing". While Google has beaten MS repeatably on search, writing software is something they are *very* good at. It's going to be an interesting few years ahead of us.

From what I've seen, it looks like Google is positioning itself more to expand its ad business, and they probably feel that developing their own browser will help weaken Microsoft's influence on the way websites are developed.

Most web developers continue to cater to IE's formatting because they know IE is still the leading browser in terms of user share. Although Firefox is great, it still has a long way to go to be able to make a large impact on MS.

By launching their own browser, Google will be able to use its brand to capture a large number of users (assuming the browser works great) and hurt Microsoft's business. Google wants to be #1, and they have to direct their resources right at taking share away from MS.

I'm not buying it that it's just the "natural missing link".

Google doesn't necessarily gain much by making a browser. After all, most people are currently moving toward FireFox anyway. And we all know that Google practically owns FireFox. They fund them.

But my point is that Google just does not need to do this. Why spend time trying to be everything? Why can't Google just stick to it's goals? Why can't they just make good search results and loads of money in the process?

Even Google Maps, Google News, Google Shopping, etc is part of their goals of "organizing the world's information". But why a browser? To try to hurt Microsoft!

They are trying to prove to the world that there is no need for applications. Just buy a computer and put "our browser" on it. You no longer needs MS Office. Just our browser.

We're not there yet, but that's the direction this is heading in.

Now is the time for a new browser...many lessons have been learned and it's possible to do it better. That's all...no conspiracy theory.

You're missing the point here. First, doing a browser, Google doesn't compete with Microsoft's IE. The browser market, in itself, is just irrelevant - nobody wins nothing beside branding for making you use another browser.

So, what do they? They compete on delivering a *complete* web platform - so they can control all the chain, from the web search, to email, to web applications, and finally to the client's peer software used to access all that web content. Google's Chrome comes to address this missing link in the chain.