So what is Chrome The Browser?

chrome

Google Chrome Browser  is an open source Browser based on Webkit.
Millions of people use Gmail and Google docs, so it seems like a logical step for Google to take it to the next level: kill Windows once and for all. They presented their browser with a jolly cartoon, explaining how they wanted to make life easier for all of us users. Which, as Techcrunch put it, was nothing but “a coat of paint on top of a monumental hatred of Microsoft”. I don´t know about hatred, it might all simply be a healthy dose of competition.

Still, Google does seem to mean business. They have built their own Javascript engine despite the fact that Webkit already has one. That will make Ajax applications like Gmail and Google Docs even easier to use. When the user combines these with Gears, that allows for offline access,  Chrome is already a complete desktop operating system that can hold its own with Windows.

Check out our Chrome Themes and the Chrome Forum

In the coming years we may see a surge of applications that bypass the Windows layer and use the browser as the only operating system the user will need.

roar. When combined with Gears, which allows for offline access (see what MySpace did with Gears to understand how powerful it is), Chrome is nothing less than a full on desktop operating system that will compete head on with Windows.

Expect to see millions of web devices, even desktop web devices, in the coming years that completely strip out the Windows layer and use the browser as the only operating system the user needs. That was going to happen anyway, but Chrome + Gears just made the decision a whole lot easier for hardware manufacturers to make.

Microsoft, meanwhile, is stuck with a bloated closed source browser that they don’t even tether to their search engine for fear of more antitrust woes. Google can push their search engine and other web services all day long on Chrome, with no government interference. So not only will Chrome drive lots of incremental revenue to Google, it also paves the way for a Microsoft-free computing experience.

I love Chrome already and I haven’t even tried it yet (nor will I be using it much soon, since it will only work on Windows for now). But Google’s days of unchecked growth may soon come to an end. They are quickly becoming the new Microsoft.