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What the early version of Chrome accomplishes isn’t quite that grand, says tech guru David Pogue. “But it is a first-rate beginning…though most of the really smart features seem to have been inspired by other browsers—or ripped off from them, depending on your level of cynicism...For now, it’s best to think of Chrome as exactly what it purports to be: a promising, modern, streamlined, nonbloated, very secure alternative to today’s browsers. You should do exactly what Microsoft, Apple and the Firefox folks will all be doing: try it out and keep your eye on it. Because every now and then, Google’s fresh approach ends up dominating its once much bigger competitors.”

Exactly What’s Under the Chrome, Anyway? Wired.com

FORMER tech start-up CEO and author Bob Rice is skeptical. “Google doesn’t sell software or hardware or content. It sells you—or, slightly more precisely, its ability to understand your habits and deliver your attention to particular advertisers. And because of this, I am just a touch nervous about installing Chrome, its new browser software,” he explains. “At first, Google’s goal will be to change the software game and speed your transition from a desktop-driven environment to its “cloud computing” applications: word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Google hopes that soon, you’ll create these documents on one computer, leave them on their servers in the sky, and then continue working on them later from any other computer. You’ll collaborate, share and deliver the docs this way, too. And Chrome will be the interface for it all, on top of serving more mundane web surfing functions. And all the while, Google will be doing the usual, capturing your data, your documents, your habits.”

Bring on the Browser Wars!, Slate.com

FARHAD Manjoo, too, believes the browser fight is a means to other ends for Google, Microsoft, and Apple. “Microsoft, which holds more than three-quarters of the browser market, looks at the Web as an extension of its operating system. As more of our programs move online, Microsoft fears we might have little reason to stick to Windows; it sees control of the browser as a way to control the future of software development. Google seems to want to be in the browser business to fight Microsoft. The company’s revenue comes entirely from the Web, so it’s got to be wary that most of its customers come through software created by its main rival. Apple, meanwhile, needs a browser to beef up its own platform—not only on the Mac but also on its phones and iPods.” But he’s happy that “as the giants duke it out to come up with the best product, they’ll copy and improve upon each other’s innovations, bringing new features to all browsers.”

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