The web development world is all a-Twitter (so to speak) about the release of Google’s browser, Chrome. Based on the Webkit rendering engine used by Safari and Android, Chrome fast and comes with some nice features.
It may be a while before Chrome is a serious contender with Firefox and Internet Explorer, due to the lack of extension support. Out of the box Chrome has enough style and strength to satisfy the average web user – but the average web user still uses Internet Explorer. For a new browser to gain wide adoption it will have to become beloved of the tech crowd – just as Google itself grew to popularity based on the geek vote. Power web users will demand their plugins.
One saving grace that might keep Chrome at top of mind for those of us who are more technically inclined is the applications feature. Chrome can turn a web page like Gmail or Google Reader into a desktop app, separate from the browser. It’s web mail that doesn’t look like it’s in a browser. Nice.
Time will tell about the adoption of Chrome, past the initial hype. Thankfully, our Florist 2.0 clients won’t have to wait long! GetClicky, the anayltics program we install with every Florist 2.0 site has already announced identification support for Chrome. That means our florists will know how many people are visiting their site each day using the Chrome browser vs. Firefox, Safari, IE and the rest.