 | By Mark Joseph Edwards Some people are calling Google’s latest offering the beginning of the end for Internet Explorer, but is that really the case? Chrome does look promising — possibly more promising than some people suspect — though there’s much more than browsing at stake. |
Chrome: not ready for prime time — yet
The last time I checked, there were well over 50 Web browsers available, although Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera collectively dominate the market on Windows PCs. But a change is in the air, now that Web behemoth Google has launched the beta of its new Chrome browser.
Since Chrome’s release last week, there’s been a lot of buzz about the program, and rightfully so. The browser is lightweight, has a very sparse and cleanly streamlined interface, renders pages quickly, and is incredibly easy to use.
Under the hood, Chrome uses the open-source WebKit technology for rendering pages. WebKit is also the foundation of Apple’s Safari browser and other OS X applications. In addition, Chrome uses parts of Mozilla’s Firefox code and other open-source technology, but it features a brand new Javascript processing engine that renders code faster than the competition.
Like many other browsers, Chrome has a tabbed interface. What makes Chrome’s tabs different is that, like Internet Explorer 8, each tab in Chrome runs in its own process: if a Web page crashes, only that one tab closes — not the entire browser.
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