Google Chrome

[The Eva Monkey]

http://www.google.com/chrome

MMMMM. <3

YOU HAZ NEW BROWSER 2?

[IrkenEvangelion]

I don't like Google. I think the only product of theirs I like is Google Earth. I use Safari (Go Macs!).

[Ornette]

No linux port yet, they're making all you windows users beta test. So it'll be a little while before I get to run it.

There's been a lot of fuss being made about its EULA though, specifically:

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights that you already hold in Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content, you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services. This licence is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

And by "Services", they mean "Google’s products, software, services and web sites", which includes Chrome. In Section 13.5, it says that after you've stopped using Chrome, everything that happened while you were under the EULA still applies indefinitely.

In Section 12, they're going to automatically download and install updates from Google. Although this isn't unusual to find in EULA, they do make you agree to it.

Also, in Section 17, they say they have the right to place advertisements on their "Services"


Although the EULA's are mainly to protect the licensor, Google's EULA's have been traditionally absurd (see gmail's EULA), but it's unlikely they'll actually pull anything seeing as how heavily user driven the company is. But if something fucked up does happen, just keep in mind you've signed off all of your rights to them.

[IrkenEvangelion]

Thank you, Ornette, now I won't even consider using it. I'm the type of person who doesn't read things and just clicks accept. On a completely unrelated note, if the whole 'Terminator' thing happens I can almost guarantee it'll be Google's fault.

[Mr. Tines]

Some related reading

http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2008/09/google-evil-identity-theft-company.html

http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/initial-thoughts-on-google-chrome

http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2008/09/google_chrome.html

http://blog.headius.com/2008/09/few-thoughts-on-chrome.html

[BrikHaus]

I like Google, but it will be hard to switch away from Firefox.

[Action_Bastard]

Yes Firefox FTW. I have seen what this google browser looks like, and personally it=craptastic.

[drinian]

Being on Linux, I haven't tried it, but I did read the comic they commissioned that was mostly targeted at developers.

It's open-source, which means you can always get a build that isn't from Google, but, more importantly, they've made some remarkable technological advances in performance, from what I've heard, and their new JavaScript engine may be making it into other browsers soon.

As usual, I think that Google will help stimulate competition in the marketplace.

[honsou]

I like Google, but it will be hard to switch away from Firefox.

Yeah unless this new browser is far and a way better then firefox (aka it gives me a blow job) I'm probably not switching.

[UrsusArctos]

That EULA is absurd. Beats me what they want to say such things for? To modify any and all content? That's plain crazy. Since Google is user-driven like you said, it's probably some kind of contingency planning for something. Beats me what.

And although Chrome is fast, it's rather buggy with the posting. I'll stick to Firefox for the time being.

[drinian]

The EULA has been fixed:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080903-google-on-chrome-eula-controversy-our-bad-well-change-it.html

[UrsusArctos]

So it has, but the omnibar's keystroke collection needs to be fixed as well. It's not any good if the omnibar can collect and store all keystrokes.

[drinian]

Personally, my impression is that right now Chrome is not for the power user. It's not for people who use lots of Firefox extensions, or tag their bookmarks in del.icio.us, or anything like that.

It's for the shockingly large group of people who type Web addresses into the Google search page because they don't understand what the URL bar is there for.

[BEsERk EVA01]

Hmm..looking at the screenshots, it doesn't look that appealing to me that much. I have to say, though, Firefox is steadily owning Internet Explorer. And since when does Google get into this type of stuff, I doubt their browser would get much attention anyway...when compared to FFX and IE.

[The Eva Monkey]

when compared to FFX and IE.

Final Fantasy X lol whut?

[BrikHaus]

when compared to FFX and IE.

Final Fantasy X lol whut?

Come on, Monkey, are you saying that you never used Final Fantasy X to browse the web before? Get with the times, man.

[Dartz]

Google, Microsoft Intel.

Controlling data, rights and hardware respectively.

Oh well.

[Mr. Tines]

No, this is the next step for Google to make MSFT irrelevant.

[Dartz]

Just because I have a gmail, doesnt mean I have to trust them. As much as possible, I avoid google services. I had google desktop preinstalled on my laptop by the OEM... I uninstalled it when I caught it phoning home. I dont know what it was sending... but the fact it was sending something bothered me greatly.

So I erased it. Completely.

And wrapped my laptop in tinfoil, JIC

[Mr. Tines]

Google Dektop search does its business by copying all your stuff onto their servers and doing the searching there.

Which is why it's forbidden at work, and why I have never considered installing it. They have enough of my on-line life as it is.