Google Chrome: shiny browser goodness

I use both Firefox and Internet Explorer, and when I learned recently that Google is about to launch its own browser I was interested but not overly excited. However, 15 minutes spent reading an online comic book has completely changed my opinion. My new view: I can’t wait to take Google’s Chrome out for a spin.

First, the comic book story, because it’s kind of funny. Google created an online comic book that explained all the ins and outs of its new browser, and as of early today (Tuesday, Sept. 2) the comic is available through Google Books. However, it wasn’t supposed to be out yet. Someone messed up and sent it out early, and because of that the search giant has moved up the release of the Chrome beta. It is now scheduled to be out sometime today.

My initial reaction to the Chrome news was lukewarm only because I wasn’t sure what more I wanted from a browser. I already use both IE and Firefox (IE stills works better on some sites, and I like Firefox’s philosophy and plug-ins, especially the excellent Remember the Milk for Gmail, which runs only on Firefox). I also have Safari for Windows installed on a couple of PCs, but frankly it doesn’t offer anything special or valuable.

So I felt I was well-served by the current browser crop. Then I read the comic book. I won’t go into too much detail here; read the comic, it’s worth your time. Promised improvements include better search, a tab-centric user interface, speed gains and more stability. And all of that is fantastic, but what really convinced me about Chrome is the security work Google has put in. Chrome is architected so that each tab (each Web page you open) runs as its own process and cannot affect anything else on the machine. Google walls each Web page into its own sandbox, so a site can no longer install malware on to your hard drive, can no longer look on as you type in a banking password and cannot tell Windows to run a malicious application at start-up.

While it’s unlikely Chrome will be completely bullet proof–hackers are no doubt already sharpening their blades–it appears Google is about to release the most secure browser available.

As I finish writing this, Chrome does not appear to be available for download, so I can’t provide a link to it. However, keep an eye on Google’s blog. It will show up soon.

Peter Wolchak
Backbone magazine