Will Chrome Kill Firefox?

· September 03, 2008 —

Google Chrome, the latest open source browser developed by the almighty Google is already out. It is currently in Beta and is only available for Windows, as Linux and Mac OS X versions are still under development. I have tried Chrome today and here are my initial impressions

Chrome is wicked fast.
Web applications that require Javascripts load a lot quicker in Chrome than in Firefox, and (oh well) in IE. In fact, I'm not the only one who has noticed this; click HERE to know what I mean. The V8 JavaScript engine with features such as hidden class transitions, dynamic code generation, and precise garbage collection can be credited for Chrome's killer speed.

Chrome is sleek and simple.
Google is known for making easy-to-use and plain-looking web applications, and their home-cooked browser is made just that. Some of its features like Omnibox (the URL box at the top of each tab) and New Tab Page (shows thumbnails of the nine most visited web sites) are based on Opera, while the user interface like the back, forward, refresh, bookmark, go, and cancel options is similar to that of Safari.

Is Chrome secure enough?
Security expert Aviv Raff found a flaw in Google Chrome that can "trick users into launching executables direct from the new browser." The flaw involves bugs in WebKit and Java, the latter bug having been discussed at the 2008 Black Hat conference. Apple's Safari is unaffected by this flaw, as it uses a version of WebKit that has patched the flaw; Google Chrome uses an older version that does not contain the patch. I expect that Google will patch this flaw at any time soon.

Will Chrome kill Firefox?
An article HERE described Chrome as the anti-browser. Though I agree that Chrome still lacks features that Firefox have, I think it will quickly catch-up and be a threat to Firefox. Some of my normal (non-geek) friends who do basic stuff with the browser (e.g. web surfing and checking email) are already impressed with Chrome primarily because of its speed and simplicity.

So will Chrome kill Firefox? -- Chrome can only hurt Firefox but it can never kill it. Firefox's steady market share growth will definitely slow-down because of Chrome. However, this doesn’t mean that Firefox will not fight back and lose focus of their initial goal, which is to dominate and to continue eating IE’s still much bigger user share.

And now that the browser war is temporarily focused on “Chrome vs. Firefox”, which side are you on?

Anonymous #

Its not supposed to kill ff dumbass. AND it will not kill ff. Stop playing the controversy card. its annoying. IE still has +75% market share. FF just doesnt cut it against IE. chromes market is different from ff. This will be good for FF since competition will drive it to make better code. chrome is there to make firefox burn brighter.

Anonymous #

ok dont get pissed off at me. but please stop being the boy abunda of open source. lord. chrome vs ff? ano ba yan. ok to be fair to you. put it this way - chrome and ff vs ie. or chrome will drive ff to be better.

Anonymous #

stupid post!

Anonymous #

hmmm... let's see what ff will do about this.

btw, this not the first blog that mentioned competition between ff and chrome.

everyone, chill.

*penguin rocks*

Jun #

@Anonymous1: I didn't say it would kill Firefox, I only said it would hurt it. Yeah you are right, and as I've said it, Chrome will only make Firefox even better. But, I disagree with you that Chrome's market is different than FF. Chrome will someday have extensions or add-ons that will sound appealing to current FF users.

@Anonymous2: Sorry but I love Lolit Solis more... Chrome is a web browser so it is still a direct competition to FF.

@Anonymous3: Thanks for your honesty.

@Aby: Thanks for the support.

Now people...listen up. Let's go outdoors and get some sunshine! :-)

Anonymous #

I do not understand whats up with the nasty comments. Come on, chill out. Anyway, Chrome indeed would be a major player in the browser battlefield in the future. Right now it is still in beta and has a long road ahead. This would have rippling effects on the other browsers, making them better or worse. Either way, it would make our use of the "interwebs" better. Chrome, being an opensource software, is definitely in a good position to get improvements and updates to fix its weaknesses and failures. The open-source mantra "scratch your itch" will definitely hit people who uses chrome and addons and extension will hopefully be available soon. There might even be a fork of Chrome or Chromium (the open-source project) hitting Linux boxes soon.

Paul Hamilton #

I work in support of individuals with "disabilities". From my perspective, the greatest thing about Firefox is the growing collection of add-ons. Many of these facilitate access for individuals with special needs. The web needs to be accessible to all, so this is a very good thing. My hope is that Chrome will indeed result in an even better Firefox. I also hope that we'll see add-ons for Chrome that will facilitate access for all. --Paul

capricornus #

Mozilla 3.1 Minefield beta

Dash versus Ariel. V8 versus TraceMonkey. Chrome versus Fox.
Well, I test 3.1 and it IS blazing fast. Just believe me. Blinking an eye is slower than rendering a page full of Java.
NoScript v1.8 is already active. CustomizeGoogle and AdBlock not yet.

Anonymous #

Google Chrome (GC) is very light browser compare to FF which I always use. I never use IE since FF came up. I think it's a challenge for FF to make as light as GC with lot of add-ons and feature. Now GC is my default browser and FF as my second opinion. I can't wait the add-ons for GC.

Anonymous #

Oh yes it may be fast, that may be true.

However, consider that it has one of the most hated "features" of DRM in it's not only calling back but reporting what is browsed.

Oh sure it has a "secure" mode, but that happens to be normal operation for all other browsers.

I will never install Chrome, just as noscript never allows either of google's ad spyware on my PCs.

(For a company who's motto is "Don't be evil" they sure are doing a great job at being evil.)

Will Chrome Kill Firefox?

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