Technology, business and change
The Google Chrome madness
It’s been two busy days in the blogosphere with the launch of Google Chrome. I’ve read it all: “Chrome is the best thing since sliced bread”, “Chrome is good, but doesn’t beat my Firefox”, “Crap, it’s not available for MAC/Linux”, “Another browser to support for us, web developer, what a pain!”, “Google wants rights to things I do online with Chrome”.
Delivering Breaking news
There’s no way I could deliver breaking news, I would feel like bringing potential lies to people. That’s what happened in the last two days with Google Chrome and that’s why I waited a before writing a little something about it. We’ll have a look at the common myths together.
Google want rights to things you do using Chrome
This little thing from the Google Chrome’s EULA was raised today:
By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.
This is scary isn’t it? Google is getting the rights to everything I post through their browser. What a luck I’m writing this post in Firefox! Instead of believing it without double checking this information, I visited Matt Cutts’ blog (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/). Matt Cutts is the head of Google’s Webspam team so he really knows what he’s talking about and here’s what he posted today:
I knew that Google didn’t want to assert rights on what people did using Google Chrome, so I asked the Chrome team and Google lawyers for their reaction or to clarify (probably several other people pinged them too). Here’s what I heard back from Rebecca Ward, the Senior Product Counsel for Google Chrome:
“In order to keep things simple for our users, we try to use the same set of legal terms (our Universal Terms of Service) for many of our products. Sometimes, as in the case of Google Chrome, this means that the legal terms for a specific product may include terms that don’t apply well to the use of that product. We are working quickly to remove language from Section 11 of the current Google Chrome terms of service. This change will apply retroactively to all users who have downloaded Google Chrome.”
Ok, and l checked the EULA tonight and it looks like this now:
11. Content license from you
11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.
A lot less scary isn’t it? Issue resolved, next!
Another browser to support!
Again, Matt Cutts the Google hero answered this:
Q: Another browser? Geez, I’m a webmaster/search engine optimizer/front-end programmer and I don’t want to worry about another browser.
A: Google did not add another rendering engine. Google Chrome uses WebKit for rendering, which is the same rendering engine as Apple’s Safari browser, so if your site is compatible with Safari it should work great in Chrome. Personally, I do think creating clean code that validates and works on many different browsers will be an important skill for webmasters and web designers. These days a smart site owner thinks about how their web site looks to all browsers, from Internet Explorer to Safari to Opera to an iPhone.
So, just ensure your website looks fine on Safari and you should be fine!
Other general issues
For other general issues about Google Chrome, visit the following two posts on Matt’s blog:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/common-google-chrome-objections/
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-chrome-communication/
My general appreciation of Chrome
I personally love it. OK, there’s a lack of features, but the thing is lightning fast. I’m a big fan of Opera and I’m pretty sure this little thing is faster. I hate the fact that there’s no status bar, no rss icon in the URL bar and no extension support, but that will come for sure. I will still continue to use Firefox because it offers so much to web developers: toolbars, firebug, etc, but I will also use Chrome because it feels lighter and is much faster.
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i already checked their new browser and your right it is lightning fast. although it is still on test I’m hoping they will have certain features like FF to make online optimization easy to handle. for example the page rank tool of firefox. well surely google is dominating the web and it is pretty scary for everyone of us. hopefully the leading company browsers will cope up the competition. sigh* i hate loosing options.
jigss last blog post..Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser
Hah! Safari! I should have known. The first time I fired that up, the speed, the lack of a frame at the bottom of the page and etc. all reminded me of Safari.
I’m still messing with Chrome. Don’t know if I like it better than Firefox yet, but I love the speed and simplicity of it all…
The Hawgs last blog post..Hurricanes are inconvenient
Ok good review – I love the idea of the individual processes per tab in Chrome but the benefits of using Firefox are way too great for me to even consider a move.
I find interesting the fact that Chrome’s code will be released to the open source community. First of all, I’m expecting this move to guaranty the transparency of the software, on the other hand Chrome might also become another FF, where you can add plugins and all kind of whistles.
As I look at it, Chrome gives me the impression that it was designed for the average, everyday IE user that has no idea what an RSS is, and who uses Google search box to enter a URL. If these people are the overwhelming majority on the net, there is a minority (mostly FF users), that are looking for more when it comes to browsers. This minority has a lot of influence and I’m expecting that Google will have something for us too.
On the another note, I find interesting that Google put a link to Chrome on their main page in a prime position, we can’t see this too often with a new Google product.
Adam – I am also surprised to see the link – I guess this is because they are trying to push it hard as competition to get more advanced users away from FF is going to be tough and to get novice users away from their pre installed IE is also tough – It’s a bit move for Google – a little too late really unless they have got something different and exciting to offer which at the moment they haven’t.
Although – that front page of google – I wonder if they would be kind enough to put my link up there? must be a pretty good advertising spot! maybe I should mail them lol
mhh i think that safari and firefox are the only browsers that should be used!!
On the “fast” part… It’s easy to be fast doing nothing. Opening pages is pretty much only thing Chrome does in current state. Let’s talk about speed when it will be actually usable as browser.
PS come on, CommentLuv! You simply have to pick right up-to-date link for this comment!
Rarsts last blog post..CCleaner – ultimate[ly popular] cleaning tool
@jigs: Yep exactly, it’s still missing some important features FF offers and that we can’t go without.
@The Hawg: Hehe yeah, very similar to safari. Simplicity is really what Google wanted to achieve with this one I think. That’s what they always try to do without dropping the important features.
@olly: Totally agree, no point to switch now. As for your link on Google front page, you can try to email Larry or Sergei about it
@Gunter: Chrome isn’t bad and it’s based on safari…so another interesting option!
@Rarst: I agree, but it feels lighter than FF and IE and it also performs a little faster.
I am still trying out Chrome, its too early to comment if its the best browser
zks last blog post..The Story of The Gurus
Why does google want to monopolize the web-world? What’s next? Google ISP? Google Phone bundle? I use gmail, google and blogger almost every day – but I am not a fan of Chrome, unless they patch up the security holes!
>What’s next? Google ISP? Google Phone bundle?
Think Google Internet. They are already indexing and caching it, only one step away from copying.
Rarsts last blog post..Blog critique project at BloggingTips.com
ive tried Google Chrome, seems pretty interesting too me… its cool
Gravitys last blog post..Create Your Own Theme for Google Chrome
Someone posted this link on a Dreamweaver email forum. It mirrors perfectly how thrilled and excited I am as a Web site designer to have yet another browser to worry over.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/2008-09-05-disturbance.gif
i ll stick to firefox for now
ZKs last blog post..Shoemoney’s T Shirt arrives
Google chrome is a decent browser for just a beta, and although it isn’t up to par with the other more prominant browsers, it has a long way to go. However, at the moment it really isn’t all that great.
Speaking of which here is a review of google chrome with firefox 3.
Google Chrome vs Firefox 3
Erics last blog post..Sony Vegas 8 Puzzle Effect Masking Tutorial
Disregard the link in my last post, the correct link to the google chrome vs firefox 3 article is.
Google Chrome vs Firefox 3
Erics last blog post..Sony Vegas 8 Puzzle Effect Masking Tutorial
Glad you like Chrome. I love it too. In fact, I love it so much I’m posting in Firefox right now to keep myself away… lol. Well not really, it’s because FF is better right now with all the plugins but I do have high hopes for Chrome especially with the P0rn Mode.
incognitos last blog post..Incognito Mode Forensics
Haha, funny P0rn mode
I’ve been using mostly chrome but I find a number of key plugins that are keeping me on firefox. Once we get some plugins for Chrome I can see moving over to it 100%.
[...] with their license agreement for Chrome. Everybody blogged about it and I’m no exception, I also wrote an article last week about it. So, it was a big mistake and kind of a stupid one for a big company such as Google. Some might [...]
there are so many advantages and features with Chrome, such as it’s speed, for example; now if only they would take care it’s quirky cookie management…
I am faithful to Firefox. with all of the plugins and extentions available, I don’t think I would have any reason to switch to another browser.