Google Chrome: Two years look back

On September 2, it was the 2nd birthday of Google Chrome browser. Although Chrome has not been the world's No. 1 browser yet, it has confirmed a solid position in the top browsers. Let's reassess what Chrome has brought in the past 2 years.

Celebrate the 2nd birthday of Google Chrome!(Illustrated: Mike Lemanski)

A new look

The first test version of Chrome appeared on September 2, 2008 and received many positive reviews, especially on the Google-style compact interface. Most of the screen space is devoted to displaying web pages, without buttons, logos, cumbersome task bars, and standard menus, which are almost indispensable for Windows programs.

Google always offers neat, simple and reasonable interfaces. This has contributed to the position of the world's leading search engine, many of Google's competitors are always looking to imitate, but perhaps no one has succeeded. With Chrome, too, since the browser was born, other browsers have always sought to learn Chrome's "super thin" interface and more or less bring a new look to them. Regardless of whether the competition is successful or not, Google Chrome has done a great job of reminding them that users are surfing the web to look at the site, not to see the browser.

Updated regularly, easily

Google is known for keeping products in beta (beta) forever, but they don't do that for Chrome. Just one month after the first beta was released, the browser has released a stable and updated version since then.

The latest stable release has been released as the sixth stable for the past 2 years, and it is expected that the 7th stable version will arrive later this year, currently it is in the development stage.

Increasing competition

Only one day after its launch, Chrome accounted for 1% of the browser market. Although there is no more intense explosion, this market share is growing steadily. As of August 2010, Google's browser accounted for 7.5% of the browser market, rising to No. 3 after Internet Explorer and Firefox. Chrome has not overthrew Internet Explorer, even Firefox, but has created competition for users. It brings more choices and puts pressure on opponents, forcing them to constantly innovate.

And plan on an application store

Google plans to release a "Web Store" for Chrome next month, giving Chrome users a place to search and download web applications. This idea is a bit unusual but has the potential to bring success to the web browser, like what Apple has done on smartphones.

Source: PC World