September 05 2008

Does Google's Chrome sparkle?

Google surprised the online community this week when its new web browser, the subject of much 'will they, won't they?' speculation over the years, appeared on the internet with just 24 hours notice. How does it work and what does it mean for the performance of your website?

And what a browser it is! It is fast (JavaScript runs 10 times faster than on Internet Explorer 7 according to ZDnet), it feels rock solid even though it is officially still in beta, and it has a forward-looking security model which will help protect users against phishing, cross site scripting and other attacks.

Google says it set out to produce a stable, fast browser that was secure and has a simple, clean user interface. Because it has been developed recently from the ground up Google has been able to borrow the best ideas from current browsers whilst also optimising the design for the way the web is now being used -- making sure that it does the best possible job on video, script-intensive web applications (like Googlemail and Google Apps) and security.

Google has also incorporated operating system-like features (each browser tab runs in its own secure sandbox, so if one crashes it doesn't bring the whole browser down) and obviously has an eye to the product appearing on the new breed of small, cheap computers and even mobile phones.

But what does this mean for online retailers? For the moment, not a lot. Chrome isn't going to display your ads any better, provide any more analytics information or otherwise boost your business. But it will help raise the bar for security and usability, which will over time lead to improved user experiences and more internet shopping for everybody.

Chrome uses the same Webkit rendering engine as Apple's Safari, so your developers will already be testing against it. However, the part of the software that does the actual drawing of the page on the user's screen is different so pages won't render exactly as they do on Safari. For this reason your developers ought to be checking your site's functionality in Chrome too.

IR took a look around the top ten sites in the IMRG Hitwise Hot Shops List and they all rendered as expected, but there are 'funnies' out there -- Tripadvisor.co.uk currently displays a "We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser" message at the top of every page, for instance, although the site appears to function correctly in Chrome.

Google has provided an engaging 38-page comic book guide to Chrome, which clearly explains the thinking behind the browser and how it works. If you've got even the most slightly technical inclination it's well worth a look. And if you want to try out the browser you can grab a copy here -- it's available now for Windows with versions for Linux and Macs promised soon.

by Sarah Clark (Web Editor)