Google Chrome - A new open-source browser

Yesterday, Google entered the browser market with their new open-source offering, Chrome.

A list of some new features unique to Chrome can be found here. Things that caught our eye immediately:

• Multi-process application model - each tab / plugin runs not just in its own thread, but its own process. This has several juicy implications - for example if one site crashes, hangs, or hogs resources, it can be controlled and terminated without compromising the rest of the application


• Task manager - hit Shift+Esc at any time to get a Task Manager, for monitoring, statistics and control of all processes. There's even a Stats for nerds link for detailed diagnostics


• JavaScript: V8 - Google's new JIT-compiler for JavaScript. In Chrome, JavaScript is compiled to native code - very fast. What's more, Google have invented a new API for the next generation of web apps. Plus there's an extensive integrated JavaScript debugger and console.


• 'Home' page - a feature already growing on me can be seen whenever you open the browser or a new tab page. A list of recent bookmarks, and sites you access frequently (along with little screenshot thumbnails!) is presented, along with a 'history search'.


• WebKit engine (ala Safari) - the render engine borrows largely from WebKit. This means it generally renders web pages the same as Safari.

No doubt there will be much more to come very soon. Developers will be interested in reading through this very informative cartoon, and perhaps even compiling Chrome themselves.