Today, Google Incorporated has in store the release of a
beta version of the company’s browser, which will be available for download in
more than 100 countries by Windows operating system computer users.
Called Chrome, the browser is a serious threat to Microsoft
Incorporated, which has recently announced that it will be launching a beta
version of Internet Explorer 8 designed to block the tracking of visited sites
so that users’ private data actually stays private.
Needham & Company analyst Mark May stated in an e-mail
that he believed the move made by Google could help to increase or at least
maintain the company’s leading search market share, since the browser is known
to be important online real estate, given that it qualifies as the starting
point for every Internet experience.
Nevertheless, Microsoft, which controls approximately 75% of
the market, shows little concern about its competition launching a browser war,
remaining confident that consumers will not get hooked on Chrome, Internet
Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch informed.
Maybe Microsoft has nothing to fear, but Mozilla could be in
for some trouble. Firefox, which is managed by the nonprofit Mozilla
Foundation, has really caught on, even though it is still far behind Internet
Explorer. Still, it is the second most popular browser with a market share of
approximately 10%. And now, it could be
superseded by the very company that has been supporting it. In 2005, Google
hired the engineer behind Firefox (who had to divide his time between the
search giant and Mozilla), the partnership being extended up to 2011 last week.
Other browsers, such as Opera and Apple’s Safari might
suffer popularity loss.
It is common knowledge that, for several years, Google has
been trying to make a breach in Microsoft’s monopoly, but it has, until now,
focused on spreadsheet and word processing applications, in an attempt to offer
computer users an alternative to the Office pack. Moreover, it offered it for
free, as opposed to the rival company, which exacts a licensing fee for its
products.
Microsoft too has taken some shots at Google, by trying (but
failing) to buy Yahoo Incorporated for $47.5 billion and also by investing
billions in Internet Explorer’s development.
As for this not so unexpected turn of events, Google has
presented Chrome as being a more sophisticated browser, designed to better
display the interactive content on the Web.
Still, there are no guarantees for success, even though the
browser bears the Google name. Just take a look at the company’s instant
messaging service that has not really caught on, falling way behind Yahoo or
Microsoft products.
