Software | Nerdlets

Google enters the Browser Wars with “Chrome”

Sep 012008

Google is entering the browser wars.

But true to its “Don’t be evil” slogan, Google is not really waging a war. In fact, just last week Google announced that they would continue their support of Mozilla’s Firefox browser until at least 2011.

So why launch a new web browser?

Because we believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web.

What, more specifically, does Google think it can contribute?

Because we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if we started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build.

On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn’t the browser that matters. It’s only a tool to run the important stuff — the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.

In other words, Google’s browser will apparently focus on web applications, rather than on the comparatively “simple” matter of web browsing. This reflects a more general trend towards “Web 2.0/3.0″ and, to bring in another buzz word, “Cloud Computing.” In short: Google anticipates that more and more of your interaction with the computer will actually be interaction with the web. The software you use, the files you store, and the Operating System you run will increasingly be web-based, not hardware-based (Microsoft agrees, by the way). To put the matter even more succinctly, in 10 years Google expects that your web browser will be your OS. I suspect that their release of this new browser is intended to reflect this prophecy, while at the same time assisting Google (in its real war against Microsoft) to fulfill its own prediction. A self-fulfilling prophecy, in browser form.

Will it work? We will see (I personally would like to see a hybrid system—I hope the “cloud” will be grounded in open-source-supported home-hardware). In the meantime, it is encouraging to again reiterate: Google is still supporting Mozilla, and in addition to this continued Firefox support, which serves Google’s own interest (for the time being), they have committed to an open-source model for their own offering:

We owe a great debt to many open source projects, and we’re committed to continuing on their path. We’ve used components from Apple’s WebKit and Mozilla’s Firefox, among others — and in that spirit, we are making all of our code open source as well. We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the web forward.

This is a good move (and the only legal one available to them, since Mozilla publishes Firefox ‘s code under an open-source license that requires open-source reciprocation).

So how can you get your hands on this technology?

Check in again tomorrow to try Google Chrome for yourself. We’ll post an update here as soon as it’s ready.

The only hurdle I can foresee here is the recent controversy Google has had over privacy issues (regarding ad-targetting in Gmail, the Viacom/YouTube controversy, and, of course, Google street-view concerns). But Google makes such good “products,” it’s hard not to trust them.

Read the whole story here.

Microsoft’s Latest Internet Explorer Shaping up to be Not Evil

Software 1 Response »

Aug 282008

MS recently released the Beta 2 of their latest iteration of Internet Explorer, and it’s looking pretty nice. It boasts substantially higher security and a wealth of new features (most of which are already available in other browsers).

The most important advance is IE8′s promised standards compatibility (enabled by default). This is huge. Why? Because the code the powers the internet is supposed to comply with certain standards in order to ensure that different web browsers are able to view the same content with comparable success. However, since IE has dominate the browser market (over 90% market share, until recently), Microsoft has somewhat ignored those standards. This means that web developers have to program for two: for IE, and for everyone else.

Several decades (and international lawsuits) later, we have IE8. And it looks good. Here is a balanced review from the folks at Ars Technica. They are generally enthusiastic, though have this interesting criticism:

More disappointing (although not IE8′s fault as such) is just how broken many of Microsoft’s own websites are when forced to use IE8[compatibility] mode…. It would be nice if Microsoft would take a lead here; it will be difficult to convince third parties to update their sites for IE8 if the company cannot itself be bothered to do the same.

Read the whole review.

Microsoft Office at 90% Off

Software 10 Responses »

Aug 222008

If you did not catch the last sale, here’s your chance. Microsoft recently released this press release with the details.

Here’s the run down: anyone with a .edu email address is able to get 90% off Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate addition. That’s $60 for Microsoft’s flagship Office product. This is truly a great deal. Ultimate Edition includes everything; you even get Outlook’s business contact manager (complete with SQL server).

If you don’t have a .edu email address, ask for one. Most college’s offer .edu addresses to alumni. And just to be clear, even though the press release implies that this offer is only for students, Microsoft has agreed that anyone with a .edu address can qualify.

Go to http://www.TheUltimateSteal.com to make your purchase. Check out this post for more information, which includes notices about similar sales occurring early September. A list of what you get is available from Microsoft here, or you can check out the (Full Price) produce page from Tiger Direct here.

Finally, without wanting to take away from the importance of this sale, I would feel a little remiss if I did not mention that OpenOffice.org offers a full office suite for free, and is really excellent software (I have both MS Office 2007 and OpenOffice.org, and prefer the latter for a whole host of reasons). I will post more about OpenOffice.org soon, so stay tuned. In the mean time, don’t feel quilty about Office 2007–it’s an incredible offer.

A Pixel Ruler for you Computer Screen

Software No Responses »

Aug 212008

If you have ever designed your own website, or modified you blog’s banner, sidebar, etc., then you may have spent a good amount of trial-and-error time trying to guess how long your image should be. No longer. Pixus, an application that runs on Adobe’s new AIR technology, does that work for you. If you’re a blogger, and have spent time modifying you theme, then this app is worth a try.

Send Web Documents Straight to Google Docs

Software No Responses »

Aug 202008

Google Docs is great, but it can often be a pain to add files to your account. This post links to a Firefox plugin that makes adding files a little easier, at least for documents hosted on the internet. Right click on any supported file on the web (such as a PDF) and send it straight to your Google account. I hope someone develops a similar tool for Windows/Linux file managers. If you know of one, leave a comment!

Turn Any Printable Document into a PDF

Software 1 Response »

Aug 012008

If you use Openoffice.org or run a Linux operating system, saving any document as a PDF is easy. There is also a plugin for recent versions of Microsoft Office that can do this. But what about exporting web pages, or documents created by other software? For this you will need a “Print to PDF” driver. A “Print to PDF” Driver works exactly like any other printer, only instead of actually printing your document it generates a PDF in a folder of your choosing. This is very easy to set up: here are the details.

Linux provides the same functionality. Most distributions include a driver that does this: just go to your printer settings dialog, “Add” a printer, and look for an entry like “Print to PDF.” I’m sure MAC users have something similar, so perhaps one of our MAC readers could post a comment regarding how to set that up.

Sharing Large Files

Software 4 Responses »

Jul 312008

A friend and I recently ran into a little problem: we wanted to share files with each other, but the files in question were larger than could be sent via email. Sure you can mail a CD, or meet up for coffee with a USB drive, but those options require both time and trouble.

Enter Drop.io. It’s a simple, private, password-protected file-sharing service that allows individuals or groups to exchange data quickly and safely over the internet. You “drop” your data in a folder with either a randomized name, or a name of your choosing, then send the link to whoever you want to access the data. You can set password protection, automatic deletion dates, and a variety of different permissions (view, view/add, or view/add/delete). Furthermore, drop.io provides a variety of different interfaces by which you can interact with its services: Web, email, phone, fax, and even a desktop widget. Even Twitter-integration is provided for those seasoned in the Web 2.0 world.

You can create as many drops as you like, though individual drops are limited to 100mb at the moment. All drops are anonymous (that’s right, you don’t even have to create an account!). Upgrades are available at $10 per gigabyter per year.

The Times, They are a-changin

Software 1 Response »

Jul 272008

Several factors have contributed to a recent surge among big-name companies in supporting open-source software. Chief among these is the increasing importance of interoperability in a Web 2.0 world. This is true across the board, from big-business capitalism, to the little-guy blogger, to governments around the globe–the world needs its data in transparent patent-free formats.

Microsoft is slowly responding. From Windows Live
to OOXML, to a partnership with Novell, and now a recent announcement that they will financially fund Apache, its biggest open-source competitor in the server market (this blog runs on an Apache server). Read more here.

This is all welcome news, but it is going to require a corresponding change in business model, one which open-source friendly companies like Novell, Red Hat, Sun, and IBM have been pioneering and perfecting for years. It is the move from a product-based model, where one tries to differentiate their product from its competition in order to sell the most items, to a service-based model, where you are selling your ability to help others.

In any case, the future will be interesting. In my opinion, Microsoft is on the right track. The sooner it moves to a service-based business model the better, for us and them.

Firefox 3 and the Colbert Bump

Software No Responses »

Jul 092008

According to Google Analytics, at least 5 people downloaded Firefox 3 due to my post. Apparently, however, my contribution to Firefox’s World Record was fairly meager. The fabled Colbert Bump had far more impact. The Mozilla Foundation (the company behind Firefox 3) has provided precise measurements of the effects of the Bump, but are apparently not the first to do so.

Included here is a video of the Bump in action, or you can go directly to Colbert’s site.