I was reading the Google article on Wikipedia, and it mentioned a rumor that Google might be developing its own web browser. I’m a hardcore Mozilla user, but since Google can’t seem to do anything wrong, I might be inclined to make a switch. What say you, dopers?
Adam
Hmm…is the browser-market over-saturated by now?
I really can’t see how a Google-browser is going to be any much of a difference. Firefox is famed for its extensibility and customisation, while IE is…in your machine, whether you like it or not. So why a Google-browser? What new features would it bring to the browsing scene?
However, I would consider a Google-browser if it allows me to search through my browsing history and bookmarks. I gave up on bookmarking because I have so many of them and I have so many folders! Something like what they do for gmail will be great.
How about, if there are Google ads all over the place, forget it.
I’d give it a test drive before saying yes or no.
I’d try it but I’m a die hard Opera user
Ditto
Blind loyalty is something you have for sports teams, not freely available tools. I can’t really understand why anyone would say something other than “it depends on what it’s like” or the equivalent.
I would welcome my new Google overlords with open arms.
That is, I would definitely try it at least. If it is slightly better than Firefox and lets me import my old settings I’d switch. Otherwise it would have to be significantly better for me to bother.
It’s a LOT of work to make a HTML rendering engine and it’s highly doubtful that any company is going to be bothered making a new one. Most likley, if it were to happen, what would happen is that Google would take one of the existing mature rendering engines and fork off their own front end for it. If that were the case, then sure, I would try it but I would be worried that it would split the community and dilute efforts to improve it.
If they came out with their own rendering engine, then I would stay the hell away from it since it would probably take at least 3 years of continual intensive user testing to shake all the bugs out of it.
Amen. I’d certainly try it, but there’s no way I can say I’d switch before kicking the tires.
Given that most of other Google’s products are pretty cool and innovative, I’m sure that when the inevitable browser comes out it will have some feature that will make everyone say “Oh. Cool. Yeah, I need that.”
It’s not just going to be a Firefox fork with a different logo.
It depends on what it’s like.
I use Opera, I like the look of Opera, and I like the speed. If the Google one catches my eye and does everything I want it to, then I may change.
I’d certainly try it.
I fI liked it better, I’d switch. But I’m not switching site (pi) unseen.
This post actually gave me the impetus to download Opera and try it out. I’m not sure whether I like it.
I’d certainly give it a try.
Google hasn’t screwed up yet- they keep doing the right things, and doing them well.
The Google Web Accelerator was kind of a screw up, IMHO.
Only if it presented clear advantages over my current browser (Firefox). Certainly not just because it’s made by Google.
I’d definitely try it based on its creator. I’ve been pretty happy with Safari, and while Firefox, Opera, and Shiira are damn good browsers, they’ve each had some fundamental flaw that renders it unusable for me. It’s for that reason that I rarely try new browsers.
Google, on the other hand, excels at user interface, which is where most of my problems lie with other browsers, so I’dd certainly give it a try as soon as I heard of it.
I’d give it a try.
To decide whether Google would do this, or whether it would be any good, I think you’d have to look at what other mature markets they’ve entered, and how they’ve fared.
Gmail has been an amazing success. I switched over almost immediately. It is by far the best mail client I have ever used, even with the limitations of being web-based.
On the other hand, I tried out GoogleTalk and found it uninspiring. It didn’t seem to do anything that Trillian or Adium hadn’t already done.
If Gbrowser is just a pretty front end to a Mozilla browser, I won’t bother switching. If it really is a leap ahead, like Gmail was, then it’ll be awesome.
Recently, Firefox has been very unstable for me on both Windows and OS X. If GBrowser managed to not crash so damn much and deal with tabs and embedded content the way I want it to out of the box, that would be a start.
Such a rumor has been around for well over a year and doesn’t really have all that much behind it. Google hired some people who used to work on Internet Explorer. Google hosted the 2004 Mozilla Developer Day. Google registered gbrowser.com. People begin to put two and three together and get six.
Then the president of the Mozilla Foundation comes out and says, “No, no, we’re not working with Google on a special browser, but if they want to take the code and fork it, they’re welcome to it.” Google’s CEO steps forward and says in the Financial Times, “We are not building a browser.”
elfbabe’s comment is the most reasonable. If they choose to release one – even though there’s no absolutely no reason for them to do so – there’d be no reason not to give it a try. If it works for you, great. If you prefer a different browser, super. Me, I’m just waiting for Google to improve its search functionality first.
In addition to the usual “Is it really a new browswer*?” discussion above, a lot would depend on what kind of Google people did it. If it was the search interface people, might be great. It if was the Gmail idiots, forget it.