Google Chrome

Well, I wanted to write about Chrome, the new web browser by Google, but I can't.

In my personal life, I'm pretty much Windows-free, and when I went to check out Chrome last night, Google didn't make it clear when I'd be able to use it on a Mac, Linux, or BSD box.

"That's okay," I thought to myself, "I have Windows 2000 installed under both VirtualBox and Parallels on my MacBook." and so, for the first time in weeks, I fired up Windows 2000 and went to the Chrome website only to find out that it won't even give me a download link. Instead, I'm taunted by The Big G saying that I must be using Windows XP or Vista in order to take the newest Beta Browser for a spin. I'm running XP at work, but usually opt not to install personal apps there. I may see if I can get it working in Win2K.

My general thoughts on Chrome are that it won't significantly impact the market for quite a while, much like Opera. We'll have to wait and see. With it touting so-called "better security", it'll be a quick target for security bugs. I'm guessing several will be found.

I don't think the security-conscious folks will use it as a primary browser. Firefox has been on the market for a very long time and is a favorite among almost all of the Info-Sec professionals I know in person. Some of this is because of the various extensions such as NoScript and Firebug. Likewise, being cross-platform helps, as many of us have to use various OSs throughout the course of our work.

I'm still kind of eager to try Chrome just to see what all the fuss is about, but you'll have to wait until I find an XP box (that doesn't belong to my employer) to play with.