Following Google’s very public fallout with the Chinese Government they remain surprisingly unscathed. Their rivals on the other hand are enduring travails aplenty in the aftermath; so who exactly has come out of this scandal worse?
Whilst Google are reporting ‘business as usual’ behind the bamboo curtain, ascertaining how true that actually is can’t be done without delving deep into the realms of speculation. What we do know though is that Yahoo! have received a severe reprimand from their own Chinese counterparts, Alibaba, for seemingly siding with their search rivals in the Chinese hacking scandal. Likewise, Microsoft have been singled out for blame due to a flaw within their Internet Explorer browser that allowed Google to be hacked; an issue that has subsequently led the French and German Governments to suggest that their respective citizens abandon the Internet browser in favour of the various alternatives available.
So whilst Google have been at loggerheads with the Chinese authorities and threatening a withdrawal from the country [see: Google Threatens China Walkout], their search rivals have done little to steal the initiative. Of course it is all hypothetical at this point, but Yahoo! appear to have dug themselves a bit of a hole by siding with Google – not least with the aforementioned Alibaba – and Microsoft could lose more ground with their browser’s blacklisting in Europe.
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As Microsoft look to have completed a serious search engine coupe following a major deal with Yahoo, other areas of their software empire are looking far from stable. With today’s announcement that Firefox is nearing a billion downloads, Internet Explorer’s market share stands at just 60%; whilst still a healthy lead – Mozilla now have around a third share – it’s a shrinking margin in an area that they formerly had near complete domination.
Whilst the ten digit figure Firefox has amassed will raise eyebrows, it is slightly misleading. The download statistic covers every download since it was launched back in 2004 and includes all updates and multiple entries by single users across many devices. However, with 31% of market share, which has included some record breaking gains, Mozilla’s Firefox is certainly by far and away the leading competitor to Microsoft’s Internet browser dominance.
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Google have just announced the launch of a beta version of their new Internet browser, Chrome. This open source application will be launched next Tuesday and will go head-to-head with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Just so us mere mortals can understand what’s going on, Google have very kindly described the release of Chrome in comic book style. I particularly liked the use of the word ‘adopted’ on page 2 of the comic. Look out for that on the next Crimewatch when we’re asked to look out for a suspicious looking character who’s adopted some priceless jewellery from a stately home!
Continuing the policy of appearing not to do evil, this browser will be freely available. With the beta launch, it will be available for Windows users in 100 countries. Mac and Linux versions will follow later.
Google’s VP Product Management, Sundar Pichai said “What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build,” So, that’ll be a browser then?
It will be interesting to see how the community respond to this latest development with open source favourite, Firefox, already offering an excellent browser, supported by many innovative applications whilst allowing you complete flexibility over how you use it. In fact, the only people I can see not enjoying Firefox would be shareholders of large search engine companies.
