In its latest move to take on rival Microsoft, Google announced the launch of their brand new, homegrown Web browser. The beta version of this free Web browser, called "Chrome," was released this past Tuesday. Chrome was designed to take direct aim at Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which dominates the market with a 75 percent share.
Microsoft preloads Internet Explorer on all Windows based systems.
Chrome is the latest product released by Google that is designed to take on Microsoft. Among the list are Google Apps, Picasa, Google Health, and, coming soon, the Android operating system for cell phones. Google Apps is Google's version of Microsoft Word. It is a free bundle of programs, including a word processor and spreadsheet application. The biggest difference between the two is that Google Apps is hosted for free over the Internet, rather than using a paid license like Office. Corporate America, however, has been reluctant to embrace the Web-hosted software.
Google hopes that Chrome will have a speedier acclimation to the marketplace. Google claimed on a blog post that Chrome is a more sophisticated and streamlined Web browser than its competitors. It was designed to be faster, more secure, more stable, and more "search-friendly."
Larry Paige, co-founder of Google, elaborated on the product during its press release on Tuesday.
"You only have 24 hours a day, and we would like you to do more searches … If the browser runs well, then you will do more searches."
But what does Chrome, a two-year engineering project and a huge investment, mean for Google in the long run? Well first, and most importantly, it gives the company a direct connection to consumers. Having its own Web browser will allow the rest of Google's programs and applications to run seamlessly together, which is becoming more and more important given the amount of programs Google now has. As it stands right now, the vast majority of Google apps are Internet-based, and rather than use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Google would of course prefer for consumers to use their own Internet browser. And long term, if Chrome can gain momentum in the market, it will loosen Microsoft's grasp on Web browsing and give Google even more power on the Internet, which is something Microsoft has been struggling with. Given its astronomical, albeit unsuccessful, $47.5 billion offer for Yahoo, Microsoft is definitely feeling threatened and hasn't found a response for Google's Internet dominance quite yet.
Microsoft, however, claims that it is not worrying. After all, it has survived one browser war, back in the 1990s with the once-powerful Netscape. And with its recent release, Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft feels that its newest browser competitor will not affect its strong market position.
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