Google Enters Browser Market With Chrome

TechCrunch writer and analyst Mark Hendrickson was online Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 1 p.m. ET to take. your questions about Google Chrome, the search giant's new Internet browser. He'll discuss its features, how it could affect Web and how it fits into the company's long-term strategy.

A transcript follows.

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Chengdu, China: I've been playing around with Google Chrome today and I like what I see. I'm not sure if I'll eventually switch away from Firefox, but I think Google has at least given other browser developers a lot to think about, and I hope they'll copy some of Chrome's better features.

One things I'm a bit confused about: does Chrome have an "extensions" capability like Firefox? I can't find any menu items or buttons to indicate that it does.

Mark Hendrickson: Chrome doesn't have an extensions capability like the one you'll find in Firefox. Google does say that they are working to provide an API to developers in the future that will allow for extensions, but it hasn't provided a date for when this API will be available.

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McGregor, Tex.: What will the monthly charge for Chrome be?

Mark Hendrickson: Chrome, like other modern browsers, is completely free. It also comes with no built-in advertisements.

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St. Mary's City, Md.: How compliant will Chrome be with the W3C standards? I've had to fight to make my page designs work in Internet Explorer 6, which is still heavily used despite its age, and I dread the prospect of having to create another set of CSS hacks for another non-compliant browser.

Mark Hendrickson: Chrome uses the same rendering engine as Apple's Safari browser. The engine is called Webkit and complies quite well with W3C standards, at least relative to Internet Explorer 6 (which is notorious for implementing its own proprietary standards). I don't think web designers have much to fear about having to create new CSS hacks for Chrome.

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Fort Washington, Md.: How will Chrome improve the web experiences of the everyday person (non-geek)?

Mark Hendrickson: The two major improvements for the ordinary consumer are in speed and stability. Chrome has been designed to run sophisticated web applications (like Gmail) more efficiently and therefore faster. The browser also handles page crashes more gracefully than other browsers. If one of the pages you are viewing locks up for whatever reason, you don't have to restart the whole browser, just that tab.

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Arlington: I've been told by someone to disable cookies when using google.com so that google cannot track my search patterns, etc.

How much of my privacy will be preserved when using Chrome?

Mark Hendrickson: Google does not appear to be tracking any of the browsing behavior of those who download and use Chrome, so I don't think there is much of a privacy concern there. Matt Cutts (a well-known Google employee) has a good post on this subject here: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-chrome-communication/

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Denver: How do you think Chrome will compare with Safari?

Mark Hendrickson: Both browsers share the Webkit rendering engine, which displays pages very quickly. So in that regard, the two are similar. Chrome and Safari are both solid browsers in my opinion and will be interesting to see how Apple iterates with the next version of Safari.

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Google fan: I like and use Google (Gmail, Reader, Docs, Calendar, Google Search, etc) everyday, but I'm very satisfied with Firefox, why would/should I consider using Chrome? I haven't seen any advantages.

Mark Hendrickson: Chrome has been designed with so-called "web applications" in mind. These are more complicated sites, like Gmail, Google Reader and Google Docs, that help you perform tasks and tend to rely on a scripting language called JavaScript. Chrome comes with an advanced JavaScript processing engine called V8 that can potentially speed up these web applications considerably when compared to how they run in Firefox.

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Washington, D.C.: How do you view the release of Chrome as part of Google's overall strategy? And how were they able to keep it (relatively) under wraps for so long.

Mark Hendrickson: It's hard to say exactly how Chrome will fit into Google's long-term strategy. However, Google is essentially a web services business so it makes a good deal of sense for them to control the delivery mechanism of web services, the browser. This first version of Chrome doesn't differentiate itself all that much from other browsers out there (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera) but in time, we may see Google turn it into something that really does enable a next generation of web services. And it's not only important for Google to create a browser that can support its own web services (like Google Docs). If Google can help other companies develop better web applications, then more people will use the internet and more people will search using Google.

As for how they were able to keep it under wraps for so long, check out this article from Wired: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-10/mf_chrome . Chrome has been in development for just about two years.

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Rockville, Md.: Hi Mark - Kinda off the subject of Chrome but relating to Google, I have recently heard that Google has an operating system - is this true and have you evaluated it yet...?

Mark Hendrickson: There's been no confirmation that Google has an operating system and in fact, many people are calling Chrome its "operating system" because the "applications" it cares about are all on the internet. I would highly doubt Google has a separate operating system initiative than what we see here with Chrome.

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washingtonpost.com: Inside Chrome: The Secret Project to Crush IE and Remake the Web (wired.com)

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Washington, D.C.: Google released a non-fiction comic explaining Chrome by Scott McCloud, a relatively high profile comic artist. Has this been a successful PR move and do you think other companies may imitate it when releasing difficult to explain software?

Mark Hendrickson: The comic book was actually quite useful for understanding Chrome, even if it was a bit long. Google botched its release of Chrome by sending this comic book out a day early to a few journalists (apparently a mistake happened in the mailroom). Since it was Google, Chrome still received a lot of press attention. I would like to see other companies accompany their releases with clever materials like comic books, but I wouldn't rely on them if I were in their shoes.

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Flushing, N.Y.: Does Google have any plans (or is there any way for us ourselves) to incorporate either the entire Google toolbar, or at least some of its primary features onto Chrome...as that sounds really counter-intuitive that a browser made by Google does not have its toolbar...arguably the most widely used Google product on browsers today. And what about a Real-player plug-in. Sort of like the one that allows us to download flash videos from youtube and such.

Mark Hendrickson: Google hasn't announced any plans to incorporate the Google Toolbar into Chrome. The general design philosophy of Chrome was to keep things very bare and minimal, to get out of the way so that users could use the internet without even feeling like they were in a browser. Adding the toolbar would have added a feeling of bloat to the general design.

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Old computer question: I have a 2004 or 05 Windows XP machine that has become agonizingly slow, both at Web browsing and the OS in general. But for now I am not quite ready to upgrade. Will switching to Google Chrome (or Firefox for that matter--I still use IE 7.0) as my browser speed up web browsing at all?

Mark Hendrickson: There's a good chance that switching to either Firefox or Chrome could speed up your web browsing, regardless of what type of machine you own. Chrome in particular is being touted as very capable when it comes to processing JavaScript, which is used by many of the more advanced web applications. It also uses Webkit, which is known to display web pages quickly.

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TOTO: How safe is the safe mode? Can I use it at work?

Mark Hendrickson: Chrome's "incognito" mode simply prevents the browser from storing any information about your browsing activity on your own computer. It doesn't prevent your business from tracking that activity through its network, nor does it prevent coworkers from peering over your shoulder. So I would still advise discretion when surfing in the workplace.

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I've seen some criticism of the EULA: Some bloggers are claiming that Google is grabbing copyright.

Mark Hendrickson: There has been some outcry about Google's terms of service but, in my opinion, there isn't much to worry about at this point. You can read more about the issue here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/does_google_have_rights_to_all.php

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Madison, Wisc.: I tried Chrome yesterday and had problems with YouTube (no audio). How is Google intending to address these types of problems?

Mark Hendrickson: Since this is a "beta" launch (i.e. one where it is acknowledged that there is still quite a bit of work to be done), Google surely will be working over the coming days and weeks to resolve problems like this one. I'd imagine that any bugs preventing users from enjoying Google-owned websites (like YouTube) will be remedied quite quickly.

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Alexandria, Va.: I use Camino, Mozilla's Apple-dedicated browser for my everyday browsing on my Mac Mini. Any reason to look at Chrome as a better alternative?

Mark Hendrickson: Like Firefox, Camino uses the Gecko layout engine to display webpages. Chrome, on the other hand, uses Webkit, which has been touted by many as being much faster. So, switching from Camino to Chrome might speed up your browsing experience, although it's too early to tell for sure which browsers will outperform others in certain scenarios.

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What are the privacy promises? (none): It makes total sense that they would go this route: Just one more even more ever-expanding, totally comprehensive way for Google to 100 percent completely own your Web history, personal information and browsing patterns.

Most people probably don't know that the most recent versions of most of their "free" toolbars, tools, free apps, etc., phone home and send all sorts of data back to Google (I don't just mean cookies, either; extrusions from embedded, root file apps that are programmed to proactively send data back to Google without a users knowledge).

I don't plan to use it, that's for sure.

Mark Hendrickson: There may be a legitimate concern to having Google control both the browser and the web applications you use most often (Search, Gmail, Google Docs, etc). But until Chrome gains any significant level of marketshare (which will be hard for Google to achieve), I'm personally not too worried.

As for data privacy concerns, it does not appear as though Chrome sends reports about your browsing history and other personal information back to Google HQ.

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Hagerstown, Md.: Will I be able to "dump" my subscription to AOL and use Chrome (free) with my Verizon DSL hook up?

Will I have to re-enter ALL my bookmarks and e-mail address's from iGoogle to Chrome?

Will I be able to prevent history's (Web, images, news, products)in Chrome, as I do now in iGoogle?

Mark Hendrickson: You should be able to dump your AOL subscription and use Chrome for free with your Verizon DSL connection.

As far as I'm aware, there's no way to import personalization preferences from iGoogle into Chrome.

If you use Chrome's "incognito" mode, it will prevent your computer from retaining any information about your browsing history.

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Seattle: The merging of the address bar and search bar gives Google too much control over navigation. It separates companies and website operators from their website addresses and brands.

Companies spend heavily to establish and maintain brands. Google has just imposed itself between consumers and businesses. Direct navigation has now become proprietary search, whereby Google uses its discretion to filter out web addresses and domains that it deems less relevant.

I object and I hope you do too. Do you?

Mark Hendrickson: I'm not sure I understand the concern completely, but to the extent that I do, I'd have to say I don't object to what Google has done the way you do.

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Mark Hendrickson: Thanks for the questions everyone and good luck trying out Chrome.

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Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.