Google Chrome – First impressions

Google Chrome is clean, sleek and quick. The new Javascript engine hasn’t disappointed the web surfers. Given that this is all in the first version, you can only expect it to get better. If there is onething that has left me wanting, it is a MAC version. Now that I alternate between Mac and Windows on a daily basis, I feel the need all the more. While it should just be a matter of time, I hope the wait will be minimal.

From a web developer’s perspective, while I see it as a big win for HTML/Javascript as against Flash or Silverlight, it leaves us with one more browser to contend with. The fact that Chrome is built over Webkit (the same rendering engine used by Apple Safari browser), is definitely a good news as when you support one, the other gets supports automatically (OK, at least to a greater extent from the rendering perspective).

Another important convenience is that the Chrome comes with Gears, pre-installed. This facilitates Web Apps from Zoho and Google  itself to work Offline.

What Next ?

The next big thing to watch our for is the Android version of Chrome. Will it match the iPhone safari ? Will it surpass its performance ? The wait will only be till this month end I guess when T-Mobile will release HTC dream with Android powering it.

Overall its a great step forward from Google in its campaign towards Cloud computing and its Web apps/services. More later..