What Chrome means for Microsoft
Aiming to react quickly to Google's Chrome announcement, Microsoft focused on how Chrome stacks up against Internet Explorer.
"The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online," Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch said in a statement.
Just last week, Microsoft released the second public beta for its IE 8 browser.
(Credit: Microsoft)Hopefully for Redmond, though, it recognizes this as far more than an attack on Internet Explorer 8. Google was already a big supporter and partner of Mozilla. If it really just wanted a better browser, it would have just stepped up its investment in Firefox.
In Google's own words, Chrome is as much about being a platform for Web applications as it is a means for viewing Web pages.
"What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for Web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build," Google said on the company's official blog.
Although today one needs Windows to run Chrome (Mac and Linux versions are coming soon), it is not hard to see how Chrome is a threat to Microsoft's operating system dominance.
Imagine, in the not too distant future, a Linux-based machine with Chrome and lots of Chrome apps. Hmm...That's starting to sound like a pretty big threat to Microsoft indeed.
That said, people have predicted the browser would overtake the operating system since the Netscape days and the OS has remained important. The key question for Microsoft is can it create enough experiences that are better outside of a browser/Web app engine to maintain the OS as not just relevant, but worth an extra $100 in the cost of a PC.
The competition, though, is not limited to PCs. A more competitive browser-as-platform from Google could mean more headaches for Microsoft on the mobile front as well. Microsoft is already playing catch-up in the mobile browser arena as it tries to take on the iPhone's Safari browser. Microsoft has promised to have a version of Internet Explorer 6 on Windows Mobile by year's end, but it is unclear how close that will get the company to its already existing competition, let alone new entrants.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.
You really believe this nanosecond of a product still in BETA will phase
the most powerful company on the planet? I don't ever defend MS and I won't
here. The only intenty that can "screw" MS is the SEC. Without google as
my search engine...well, I don't know what engine I might use however,
remember Microsoft has been inventing OS's over thirty years. Our friends
at Google, are across the board new to this. I hate it but, it's true. Mr. Gates
and Mr. Jobs have a thirty year jump at OS's and without the Gates servers
the www wouldn't exist for google to search. The old cliche' "whomever laughs
first may not laugh the loudest." MS put IE8.0 on my new VHP, guising it under
an essential update. Good luck, maybe you can get a laugh at thier expense.
http://www.zimbrablog.com/blog/archives/2008/06/and-the-winner-is.html
Chrome is based on the same Safari 4 code used in that test.. so thats what.. 4 times faster?
Right now, most folks have a copy of Office installed, but their next computer may not have it (notice that MSFT sells a "home and student" reduced-price version of the suite now? There's a reason they stopped charging $400 a pop for the thing).
They have offerd that for over a decade it is not new
Apple dominates mind/market share in the MP3 player and smart phone space. So every new device in that space is a possible "iPhone killer" or "iPod killer".
Microsoft dominates the browser, office suite, and OS spaces. Hence they are a target there.
Beyond Binary is a look at how technology is changing our lives and the people behind all that life-changing stuff, with an extra emphasis on that which emanates from Redmond, Wash
And for the same reason Google is not going up against Mozilla either in the short term. Perhaps in many, many years Chrome may become the main browser, but that is clearly not what Google is working on with Chrome. As they have stated their interest lay in making a browser that would run their apps better. But Chrome gives all web application developers the same advantages. The clearest immediate loser will be competing Internet non-HTML plugins, like Flex and Flash.
Apple has more cash in the bank right now than Microsoft does, and is growing nearly twice as fast.
look at the most recent quarter. EVERY DIVISION was in the black by several hundred million.
Cash on hand only points to the greed of Apples board. I get my dividend check from MS every quarter, I'm still waiting on my first one from Apple(I won't hold my breath).
If you Mindlessly support Windows and Internet Explorer with utter disregard to performance, adherence to open standards, and lack of interoperability, you should think about how much this has caused the Vista Operating System to be such a disappointment.
When people don't push for standards and interoperability, they eventually will get burned. (Editors' note: Spam links removed.)
How come when I click on your Free Linux Shirt link, it takes me to an online shop which has tees with prices rather than saying "free?"
You must be kidding.
The point isn't to kill Microsoft, it is to present better choices for all of us in the marketplace. Right now, Microsoft is pretty much forced on most of the population due to a combination of price and OEM lock-in. Unless you really know where to look, you will be stuck with Vista on your new Dell, HP, etc.
What the diff between that and replacing the word chrome with firefox, safari or even internet explorer? Chrome being the browser that supports open web standard. Meaning that whatever it can do, other open web browser is suppose to be able to do. It acts as a gateway to the Google Apps. Unless, Google pulls a Microsoft and lock their customers into the Chrome. Want to use my apps, we "strongly" recommend using Chrome. Because it will tune to work "better" and "faster" with "their" browser.
Oh and to the people who keeps predicting that MSFT will die in 10 years, here's a tip. The same thing has been said over and over again for the past decades. Perhaps a prediction with a larger number will carry more weight.
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by kuei12
September 2, 2008 12:04 PM PDT
- What Google still fails to realize is that people want privacy. That is something you will never see with google.
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