Google launches Chrome web browser
Web browsers are facing some competition: Google somewhat hastily launched its own browser, Chrome, today after a comic on the subject was accidentally sent to an internet blog.
The web browsers Internet Explorer from Microsoft, Mozilla Firefox and Safari from Apple are facing competition from Google: the search engine giant has launched its own web browser Chrome, which is available to download for free on the internet from today - but only for the Windows operating system for the time being. According to Google, versions for Apple and Linux are in preparation.
Google announced in a statement on Tuesday that it had decided to develop its own software due to the shortcomings of previous browsers. The most important innovation is likely to be that individual sub-windows, known as tabs, are operated separately from each other like individual processes. This should increase the stability of the program.
Like Mozilla Firefox, Chrome is designed as an open source program that can be further developed by users. Some of the same components are used as in Mozilla and Safari. Observers assume that Chrome will spread primarily at the expense of Mozilla, which has increased its market share to around 20 percent to date. Around six percent of users use Safari.
According to Google, the surprise announcement of the new software is due to a glitch. The company sent the internet blog "Google Blogoscoped" a copy of a comic illustrating the advantages of Chrome too early. After the information spread around the web, Google responded with an official statement.
The launch of Chrome is reminiscent of the so-called browser war of the mid-1990s. At the time, Microsoft had sunk the leading Netscape Navigator into insignificance within a short space of time, for example by adding Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system free of charge.
Google announced in a statement on Tuesday that it had decided to develop its own software due to the shortcomings of previous browsers. The most important innovation is likely to be that individual sub-windows, known as tabs, are operated separately from each other like individual processes. This should increase the stability of the program.
Like Mozilla Firefox, Chrome is designed as an open source program that can be further developed by users. Some of the same components are used as in Mozilla and Safari. Observers assume that Chrome will spread primarily at the expense of Mozilla, which has increased its market share to around 20 percent to date. Around six percent of users use Safari.
According to Google, the surprise announcement of the new software is due to a glitch. The company sent the internet blog "Google Blogoscoped" a copy of a comic illustrating the advantages of Chrome too early. After the information spread around the web, Google responded with an official statement.
The launch of Chrome is reminiscent of the so-called browser war of the mid-1990s. At the time, Microsoft had sunk the leading Netscape Navigator into insignificance within a short space of time, for example by adding Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system free of charge.
