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Web browsers will evolve until they are operating systems. Those that can't will be replaced by those that can. Their aim seems to be instant web-access, which
by 10ren 17y ago
Web browsers will evolve until they are operating systems. Those that can't will be replaced by those that can.
Their aim seems to be instant web-access, which benefits google. Linux compatibility would seem secondary - and perhaps even deliberately omitted, as Google wants you to use web-apps, not desktop-apps. And if Google Chrome is fast enough, and offline operation is seamless enough, that might not be a problem at all.
This is the thing that Microsoft feared from Netscape and Java. It got away that time. Round 2: the game has changed, but the outcome, even if preordained, remains as yet unknown.
- rjurney 17y agoSuper insightful +1 magic hat.
- edw519 17y ago"Round 2: the game has changed," I guess spending 10 years building infrastructure to support web apps had to happen first.
- 10ren 17y agoWhat are you thinking of as infrastructure? I suppose broadband is more widely available now (10 years ago I was on dialup at home, now my max is over 2MB/sec); PC hardware has become fast enough for Javascript/Flash/Java (and much improvement on their software implementation performance). From the developer point of view, AJAX-style dynamic webapps have become easier, with browser-support, dev tools, and a trained workforce; ditto for the server (esp. ruby on rails, but it's across the language-board, and DB, OR mapping, XML, JSON); and cheaper servers (which are also much more powerful). OK, OK! You've convinced me.