• The idea of multiple processes instead of threads is a good idea. IE's been doing it for years until IE7. You can still do it with any current browser just by launching new browsers instead of tabs. This doesn't put them all in one window, though. I believe there are third-party interfaces that will let you open tabs as processes. None of them have been very nice solutions, though. So this is something that will turn out to be very awesome. However, the article was great until they got to the point where they said if you browser to another domain in the current tab, it will throw away all the resources from the previous domain. I don't remember the exact number, but a huge majority (more so than any other) of browsing is going back to sites you were already at. For example, I may click on a link, like the article about Google Chrome. I'll read through that link, and then head back to StrafeRight. Browsers like Safari, Opera, Firefox, Internet Explorer, all keep a certain amount of browsing history cached. I think Firefox keeps up to 10 pages cached because chances are you'll go back to them. So with Google Chrome, it will now have to go grab all those resources over again.
• The built-in task manager is
awesome.
• They're using WebKit, the engine developed by Apple and others, and used in Apple Safari, Konqueror, Epiphany, and other browsers. This engine is truly superior to the Gecko engine used in Firefox (and others). This makes me happy. I am constantly saying how fast it is. It's pretty awesome to see Google say they were impressed by how fast it is, too.
• It's interesting to see that, despite them using WebKit, they're going to use something else for JavaScript. WebKit already has the fastest JavaScript engine out there as I've already
proven. Although they make some awesome points. The hidden classes are great.
• The address bar will behave identical to Firefox 3 with some of the more annoying parts about it fixed.
• When I use new tabs, I always have them open a blank page. I do this because, like the article said, it's faster. The way they're going to do it is a bit like how Opera is doing it currently. They have the “Speed Dial” feature which shows nine boxes that you can set to any site. This way you can add your most viewed sites an quickly get to them. The only difference with Chrome is that it looks like it will fill this information in for you, which I like.
• I like the porn mode. It sounds like it will behave about 100% identical to the Private Browsing mode in Safari.
• I was telling Teck about
Sandboxie a week or so ago. It looks like Google Chrome will do something completely identical to it. Sandboxie is great for running applications you've downloaded but don't trust. Or if you'd like to browse sites of questionable content, then there's no way any file can get on your system to cause problems. So it basically looks like Chrome will just combine the two together. This is a great idea. I love the way they split everything up.
• The reference to “DANGER! DANGER!” is great.
• Gears is a cool idea. But getting other browser developers to implement them will be a major pain. IE8
still isn't fully compatible with everything on the web. There's just so much new stuff on the web and IE is so far behind. With IE being one of the most used browsers, getting them to support standards is going to be a make-or-break deal.
All-in-all, I think Google can do it. They have some of the most intelligent, cool people working for them. With as large and popular as a company they are, they certainly have the power and push to pull something like this off. I most certainly look forward to this browser when it comes out. They had me sold when they mentioned they were using WebKit.
