On Google Chrome

I don't want to throw too much more wood onto what has been an exhaustive internet bonfire of excitement about Google's new browser, Chrome. What I will say is that, for javascript developers like me, Chrome is a big, big deal.

Features and interface questions aside, what Google has produced is a browser that works the right way. Tabs are separate processes and can neither access nor crash each other. Security is ironclad. And the javascript compiles to machine code. (!!)

This sort of bullet-proof environment is the sort we expect for our "regular" apps, and now it is available to our web apps. Google needed this change, because they make some of the world's most advanced web apps. Their users need Google Docs not to crash, so Google needs that, too.

The beautiful thing is, there are no secrets here. The code is open source. Anyone can take these ideas and apply them. If they do, it's no sweat for Google. It just means more users will get a proper environment for running Google web apps.

Contrary to conspiracy theorists, Google does not need a world of Chrome users. What Google needs is a world of Chrome-like browsers. Who makes the browser is largely immaterial. If lots of people use Chrome, hey great, but I think the game is already won for Google, because they've just pushed the entire game toward their way of seeing the world.

Even if Chrome isn't your flavor of whiskey, it's still going to make your life better. You can bet your ass Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft are paying very close attention to what has just happened, and you can bet your ass they will respond in kind. Apps will start running better in all browsers, which means we all win.

So yeah, this is a very big deal, and all I can say is: Thanks, Google. And: Hurry up and make a Mac version already. Yeesh.