Chrome for Linux and Mac Coming Soon
by Norm on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 10:15
Windows-haters everywhere, rejoice! Google has announced that Linux and Mac versions of their flagship browser, Chrome, will be available in the first half of 2009.
This is great news for Google and also a logical next step (might have been a logical first step). Since the search giant is in competition with Microsoft on the browser front, it would stand to reason that the non-Windows users would be an easy market to tap for a new browser. Although they do have to give Firefox a run for its money.
And give them a run for their money they shall! Chrome is also due to get the much promised extensions framework. Allowing optional features to be built, downloaded, and plugged into the browser is what help Firefox gain momentum as a viable Internet Explorer replacement. An extension framework is currently the top-requested feature for Chrome.
As for the Linux and Mac releases, Google still has a little ways to go. According to Chrome’s product manager, Brian Rakowski, there are still some kinks to be worked out before a release can be expected:
That (Mac development) team now is able to render most Web pages pretty well. But in terms of the user experience, it’s very basic. We have not spent any time building out features. We’re still iterating on making it stable and getting the architecture right.
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