Google Chrome

So, Google have released their own browser. The headlines are:

1. It's fast! Much faster for JavaScript-heavy sites like Google Mail.
2. It uses process partitioning for security between browser tabs. This also helps with speed issues, since each tab has its own execution threads. The JavaScript in one tab cannot hog the processor and prevent another tab from becoming responsive.
3. It takes some of the best ideas from browsers like Opera and Firefox to create a nice user experience.

The main reason for Google releasing their own browser is to promote the use of the web applications that Google itself creates. The browser is not just a way of looking at online content: it is also a way of delivering critical applications that we use everyday, such as email, word processing and spreadsheets. By making the browser more stable, they've made the delivery of web applications for critical tasks a more palatable proposition.

By promoting Google Gears (which seems to be behind the new browser), Google are also moving towards an offline web application world. If you use Google Docs and you don't have internet access, you can still use Google Docs! The server where Google Docs is hosted is essentially just a central repository that the web application can be updated from and can (if required) store documents on; but it is not required to be available to use Google Docs, since documents you create can also be stored locally.

When you add Google's Chrome browser, the facilities that Google Gears provides and the speed gains in JavaScript execution together, what you get is a very attractive platform on which to write Rich Internet Applications, without needing the Flash or Java plugins.

I haven't had time to play with Google's GWT. The idea is a very cool one to a Java / web developer like me: write Java code and deploy it on the browser. The key, though, is development and design tools. If Google want to compete in the RIA world, they need to provide a simple, intuitive development environment, like Flex Builder (but hopefully better). The would give Google the upper hand over Microsoft, Adobe and Java in terms of delivering applications via the browser.

They've got a long way to go yet!