Filed under: Business, News, Google, Browsers
Download Squad goes Chrome-crazy
As Brad reported earlier today, Google is launching the first beta of its Webkit-based browser, Google Chrome, tomorrow!Details of Google Chrome were originally leaked by the Google Blogoscope blog, who received their press copy of the Chrome comic book early, and as a result Google has moved the date of the release up 24-hours.
There have been more leaks, with the google.com/chrome and gears.google.com/chrome sites intermittently displaying content. You can see screenshots here, here and here.
As for us, being the Googleholic's that we are, Download Squad will be covering all-things Chrome-related tomorrow. Here's a rundown:
- I'll be following the Google press conference and posting any pertitent information.
- We'll publish screenshots, screencasts and our general first impressions of the browser -- I'll be making the ultimate sacrifice and using Windows!
- Download Squad bloggers will be having a Talkcast of sorts to discuss Chrome, its implications and what it means for the rest o the browsing market.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
dukeman said 11:46PM on 9-01-2008
It looks very....Google. However if it is faster and more stable then I will definitely be interested.
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Resqualle said 1:07AM on 9-02-2008
Looks like an Opera rip-off. hmpfff,
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Mysterius said 2:52AM on 9-02-2008
Everything's an Opera rip-off.
Great care must be taken to ensure that this commandment does not conflict with the other universal truism, "everything's an Apple rip-off".
Jake said 1:48AM on 9-02-2008
ITS GLaDOS!
WOOHOO! I always knen GLaDOS worked for Google... ;)
Maybe in Chrome you can type about:cake and it will say "The Cake Is A Lie."
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Mysterius said 3:04AM on 9-02-2008
I was thinking that an eye might not be the best symbol for Google Chrome, given the privacy alarmists that will inevitably run amuck...
Elías said 2:59AM on 9-02-2008
Looks like Opera and, probably, will work like firefox and Safari.
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Jonathan Lumb said 3:43AM on 9-02-2008
Is this going to be a cross-platform browser then? It would be good if I could get this up and running in ubuntu!
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Josh said 6:17AM on 9-02-2008
Yepp, Windows version coming first, Mac+Linux later though.
Quikboy said 4:53AM on 9-02-2008
Great to see you guys on the ball with the Chrome coverage. I can't wait to see DS pushing the frontpage with all things Chrome. Even if there had to be just ONE simple post about IE8 Beta 2. I know it's going to be so difficult to have to go back to Windows to use Chrome. But I think you'll survive, like the other 95% of the world.
Seriously, I really don't understand what's so major about this browser. I mean changing the way web browsers work is interesting for some, I guess. But there's already a great assortment of browsers out there. I can't help but think Google's Chrome is only just a way of Google extending their reach all over the web. Feature-wise, it doesn't seem spectacularly impressive. I guess 'Google' and 'browser' must make some people hungry for it.
Well if it's really something, maybe all the other browsers could learn a thing or two. Nice to know Download Squad isn't the least bit partial to particular companies out there...
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Christina Warren said 9:28AM on 9-02-2008
We did post about IE 8's Beta's 1 and 2. I haven't had a chance to use it in-depth, in part because the hard drive I had been using for my Windows VM's (I use a Mac) fell over and pretty much died and I have to reformat another drive to get my VM sandbox setup again. It is actually a fairly large PITA for me to do any cross-platform tests and still have access to all of my tools, which is why I made my attempt at a humorous comment.I personally am NOT partial to any of the companies out there -- if IE 8's latest beta was making such a radical change (or if that announcement was an unanticipated), I'd be just as game for giving it the same coverage. And when IE 8 does drop, we'll give it full coverage too -- just like we did Firefox 3.This is a big deal for lots of reasons: Google is one of the largest companies in the world. Not just technology companies, companies. It's also arguably the most powerful force in the online sphere (I'd say Microsoft is the most powerful software company, bar none, but Google has real power in the online sector). A GBrowser is a big deal, not just because of the company, but because of the technology. Just reading the comic book, I got excited about the possibilities.
Quikboy said 7:49PM on 9-02-2008
@Christina : It's all right. I mean I understand how it works in the real world. It's much more easier to get excited in companies like Google, than old MS when it comes to things. And yeah, MS still has stuff to work on making itself more webified.
I liked the comic book too :^)
Dieter said 5:38AM on 9-02-2008
Interesting enough there is a funny map of Europe on page 13 of the comic. Germany look a bit 'old school' missing borders to Denmark, Switzerland, Austria. Oh wait, what's that blob north of Italy...
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fgdfgdfg said 4:06AM on 9-03-2008
I personally believe the U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh...people out there in our nation don't have maps, and, uh, I believe that our education like such as South Africa and, uh, the Iraq everywhere like, such as and...I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., err, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our...
Dagwood said 7:37AM on 9-02-2008
I am excited to try it, but doubt I will use it often. Extensions are what make Firefox better than everything else in my opinion. Sure, Opera is awesome, and may be faster or more accurate, but it cant do half the things firefox can.
I doubt google will allow any ad blocking, as advertisers will have a mega company to sue for it. We will see.
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ryan said 8:50AM on 9-02-2008
They can't prevent it ad-blocking, it's open source!
hazard said 8:16AM on 9-02-2008
Can't wait to take Chrome for a spin.
FYI Chrome uses components from Webkit, Firefox and others ..
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html
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K J said 9:46AM on 9-02-2008
when to download man ... m still waiting .. no download links so faar ... or i wasn't able to find one ...
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skrollan said 8:54PM on 9-02-2008
I would like to hear the opinion of an advanced Java Developer on the Comic aber Google Chrome.
I think the Comic is a great idea and shows you the feature list very kindly.
Could be a good idea for presentations or a hand-out....
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DiRT said 12:18PM on 9-02-2008
When is this mythical press conference? I can't see mention of it anywhere.
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dukemang said 12:27PM on 9-02-2008
You know, the only thing that will make this browser revolutionary is the response time. Most pages open quickly for me on Firefox or IE, the problem is the sit there and I can't scroll or read text because I'm waiting for the umpteen flash ads to load and run.
If chrome lets those load as background threads and lets me get to reading and scrolling faster, I will uninstall everything else in a hummingbird's heartbeat. If not, I will be hard pressed to find a reason to switch.
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