Google's Chrome is the latest challenge to Microsoft's dominance of the internet browser market. We look at what Chrome offers, how Internet Explorer 8 is helping Microsoft fight back, and whether it's time you should change.
What is Chrome and why is it different?
Chrome is an internet browser produced by Google. The major difference is the way the browser handles tabs when users have more than one website open. While it looks and feels like one program to the user, each tab actually runs separately as far as the operating system (such as Windows) is concerned. This both avoids a problem with one tab causing the whole browser (or even the whole system) to freeze up, and limits the ability of hackers to access other parts of your computer via an infected website.
What is planned for Chrome?
Google has already released a test version of Chrome version 2, though there are few major changes prompting some speculation that the firm simply wants the browser to sound more advanced. Version 2 is currently only available to users who sign up to the firm’s developer preview scheme. The main additions include a full-page zoom which covers images as well as text, autocomplete for forms such as typing in your address, and a profile feature to allow multiple users on a machine to keep their preferences and bookmarks separate.
What’s new in Internet Explorer 8?
There are several behind-the-scenes changes to Internet Explorer designed to make it more stable. There’s also an attempt to solve a problem known as clickjacking where hackers disguise clickable buttons (such as those which tell your computer to install rogue software) by overlaying them transparently on what looks like a legitimate website. Unfortunately the solution requires individual websites to take action meaning its effects may be limited.
The most visible changes are optional add-ons for the browser which fall into three categories:
- Accelerators: These allow you to add options to the right-click menu to make it easier to use text from one site in a service offered by another site. For example, one add-on allows you to right-click on a phrase on a web page and go straight to the relevant entry on Wikipedia.
- Visual search: This allows you to add several new options to the browser’s search box. Rather than just making traditional searches through Yahoo, Google and so on, you can now bring up thumbnails of relevant images from Google Image Search, eBay listings and other visual sites.
- Web slices: These allow you to produce bookmarks for pages which regularly change. For example, you can add a bookmark for an eBay listing and then, rather than keep visiting the page, you can hover over the bookmark to see a brief overview of the current top bid amount and time left in the auction.
How popular are the two browsers?
In the latest available figures, which cover November 2008, 69.77% of internet users were running Internet Explorer while just 0.83% were running Chrome. This is down from a peak of 1.48% shortly after launch. While such a drop is arguably inevitable at this stage, it still means a lot of people tried Chrome and didn’t like it.
Should I switch to Chrome?
The design of Chrome means that, in theory, it should be the most secure and stable browser on the market. However, it is very much a work in progress and arguably has not reached its full potential. At this stage if you do want to switch away from Internet Explorer, it may be worth instead considering more established rivals such as Mozilla’s Firefox.
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