Chrome could get Firefox-like extensions by May
As noted on the Google Operating System blog, an upcoming session at the Google I/O conference highlights an imminent improvement to Google's open-source Chrome browser: extensions.
Google has recently been making Firefox a bit more like its Chrome browser, with improvements to its toolbar for the Mozilla browser that give it a Chrome appearance, but by adding an easy way to develop extensions for Chrome, Google is going the opposite direction: making Chrome more like Firefox, which has arguably been successful largely because of its extensibility.
So when will Chrome follow Firefox's suit? Almost certainly by the time of Google's I/O conference in May, Nicholas Moline suggests. This should significantly heat up the competition between the dueling open-source browsers, Firefox and Chrome, and give users greater choice.
With Google's Chrome browser now topping 1 percent market share in the browser market, according to Net Applications, it still has a long way to go before it can tackle Firefox's 21.53 percent share. But the real loser here is likely to be Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which continues to slide in market share against the open-source browsers.
By adding the ability for developers to improve Google Chrome through extensions, Google is taking a risk that such extensions will slow performance, but it's also making a bet that a tailored browser will win over customers, as it has for Firefox. It's a smart bet, one that Mozilla made with Firefox, to good effect, even while Microsoft's own extension strategy failed to make much of an impact.
Why has Mozilla been successful with extensions while Microsoft has failed? I think that much stems from the nature of the community that each organization is able to create. Microsoft, as a company, can't command the same fervor of community devotion that not-for-profit Mozilla can.
It will therefore be interesting to see if Google Chrome extensions suffer the IE fate. Perhaps Google can manage its growing Chrome community in such a way that its corporate presence is lightly felt, thereby encouraging more community contributions. Or perhaps not.
I suspect that Firefox will continue to win the browser war because of this, but I also believe that Google Chrome, as an open-source project, is going to feel like a better place to develop extensions than IE, thereby encouraging Firefox and Chrome to continue their onslaught on Microsoft's browser market share.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
I quite using google products (including Chrome, and google.com as a serach site. Haven't gotten away from gmail yet) due to Google's very left wing political advocacy however I still think Chrome is the best.
I think them going the way of FF with extensions would be a terrible idea as Chrome would end up being the same big ugly mess than FF is. Sure you could just not install a plugin but I worry that by supporting them google will rely on ext makers to do 'must have' things rather than improving the browser.
Keep Chrome lean and mean in the event that Google stops being a wing of the democrat party and I decide to give google products another shot :)
That's like calling basically every corporation right wing because they all support tax cuts for corporations :P
Another great browser will surely only help this further along.
Chrome is minimalistic, yet on the other hand, could use a little more versatility in the look.
I agree about Google's affiliations with you Cody, and the privacy issues Becton mentions.
It's the devil you know and the devil you've used before with browsers these days.
I love the clean - stripped down look of Chrome. If I wanted a bunch of extensions I'd probably go FF - but I just don't need that many.
I use Chrome at the end of a long day working in IT - simply because I can't tolerate anymore bloat. I do bloatware at work 40+ hrs a week - and just don't want to see it at home. So now I'm "Chrome alone".
Hopefully Google will further enhance its privacy settings - I'm pleased that they've at least made them accessible and adjustable. Now for just a bit more of a commitment to do more of the same and I'd be happy.
As for Microsoft - Let's hope Chrome is just a front for Google's new "Cyclops" operating system - now breathing on its own at Google's volcano island laboratory in the Caribbean.
That the ink on their new "Spetznaz" chip architecture cross-licensing agreement with Intel would be dry by the time I write this.
And that the recent friend-of-the-court brief disclosing that Windows, IE and MS Office violate 21,463 patents owned by the Church of Scientology is just the beginning of a long, hot summer.
Rob
- by trevor_tj_88 February 6, 2009 7:18 AM PST
- I couldn't hope any more for the use of extensions with Google Chrome. Right now, Google Chrome is the most "agile" browser. Yes, Mozilla Minefield may have more raw speed but Google Chrome has a snappy start up time, which is very nice. It also has a smooth and stream-lined appearance which isn't very intruding in the browser. It also has other nice bits that make it a breeze and enjoyable to use. When I'm at school and have to use IE 7 it seems so clunky although IE is what I've used throughout my childhood. I've heard good things about the new IE, I'll have to try that out pretty soon.
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