Journal

He said

I said

1. Proprietary: If you think the Microsoft monopoly sucks don’t you think that a Google monopoly does suck as well? It might be partly open source, but Google Chrome won’t be another Firefox, you can bet. Google is the Microsoft of the Web. It won’t be friendly forever. Just ask the Chinese. Microsoft of the web is a bit extreme. It will be open source. Webkit is open. Not to mention portions of the code base are being handled by other entities (like V8). Its a Google branded browser, or course the shell will be proprietary.
2. Privacy: Google knows what you search (Google search), what you read (iGoogle, Google Reader), what people visit a site (Google Analytics), what sites you visit (Google toolbar, lifetime Google cookies, DoubleClick tracking cookies) etc. but there still are some unknowns, from time to time. With a Google browser you can’t hide anything anymore. Conspiracy theory. Your privacy is your own concern; choosing to use the Internet (that is remote data that belongs to someone else) is choosing to forfeit some of your privacy. Besides, it’s this same feared browser that will implement some of the best anti-phishing and security measures out there.
3. Ads: Both Firefox and Internet Explorer 8 come with either built in or easily added Google ad blockers. A Google browser is basically a Google Ads feeding machine. Download the plugin. It will be available in a few days.
4. Web Development: Web Developers have a difficult enough job to fix websites for the 4 most used existing browsers now IE7, IE6, Firefox, Opera. Do you think a Google browser and IE8 will make it easier? Currently building websites often takes up less time already than tweaking them for different browsers. First, Opera is NOT in the top 4 browsers used, Safari is. Second, most developers are building to appease IE6 (though, they should stop), IE7, Gecko (Firefox), and Webkit (Safari and Google). The discrepancies between versions of Firefox and Safari are minimal and can be fixed in the later stages of development.
5. Web Standards: Do you really expect Google and Microsoft to implement the same Web Standards? No way, they will attempt to push their own ways of interpreting them, both will differ. We’ll end up with web apps or even websites working just on one of them. Standards are an after thought. Browsers often regulate new standards. Yes, what IE has done to the web is criminal, but there will always be varying degrees of adherence to standards. As web developers, we suck it up, and build stuff that works for everyone.
6. Firefox: The guy who built Firefox now works with Google or for both FF and Google. Do you really think this will go forever and Google will support it’s own free and non-profit open source competition? Someone will. Even if (when) Firefox dies, there will be another.
7. Search: No other search engine will be able to succeed in future. Google will just like Microsoft bundle the browser with the search engine so that any new search engine that comes up in future will face an unsurmountable disadvantage: It won’t be able to gain market share without owning a browser. Yeah, maybe…

If you are worried about a browser, be concerned for IE8.