Comments on: See Chrome's inner workings--and an Easter egg

Google's new browser shows a wealth of detail for programmers building Web sites or the open-source browser itself. And a mystery: what technology underlies the Easter egg?

[AySz88]

The article said, "Why "Mozilla" is in this string is a mystery to me..."

*Everyone* these days uses Mozilla at the front of the user agent strings. Even Internet Explorer uses it, though it hints that they really just mean "Mozilla-compatible". It seems that this started when IE copied Netscape's user agent "Mozilla" (since Netscape was codenamed Mozilla).

[t26l]

Hi, IE4 was far away better browser than the Netscape4 crap, I know, I was struggling to make same things look same way as I could achieve with few rows of css in IE4...
www.google.com

[twistfire]

I really like Chrome, but have major issues on certain websites. Facebook, for example is not working correctly. Cannot click on certain links.

[umbrae]

Why is someone commenting on a browser that does not understand browsers? Every browser is a "Mozilla" browser because in the beginning there was only Netscape and everyone was Mozilla Compatible. EVERY browsers User-Agent is "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; blah blah blah)". You should not attempt to report on a browser's "inner workings" if you do not understand the "basic workings" of a browser.

[skillingssucks]

For a guy admonishing others on not "understanding browsers", perhaps you should take your own criticisms. Mosaic is not the same thing as Mozilla.

[john_jjp]

I found the comment about "not attempting to report...if you don't understand..." etc... interesting in that the person stating this made a reference that "in the beginning there was only Netscape"... Something which is not true. Before there was Netscape, there was Mosaic (and actually before that, there were even others, but of course, Mosaic was definitely very popular at the time).

While I realize that at least one of the creators of Mosaic went on to Netscape, etc.. It's still different and was before Netscape.

Just wanted to make the point since one should be careful in seeming to be suggesting one persons mistake means they don't know what they're talking about. That would suggest their own mistake means.... something.

[jeannebreault]

Geez, I'm only a techie wanna-be, so I read this stuff trying to learn as I go. Or sometimes I end up in a blog, site, etc. simply as the result of "googling" how to do something or fix something.

I would hate to think that if I asked a question or made a comment here, I would receive a response that started with "Why is someone commenting on a...that does not understand...?"

Definitely wouldn't make me feel luvved!

[n3td3v]

I uninstalled Google Chrome due to privacy concerns.

[The_Decider]

Skilling,

how much does Google pay you?

The EULA states that this is spyware, how difficult is that for you to grasp?

[AppleSuxLeo]

Chrome is one big security flaw. Not to mention it is a spy-tool for Google. No Thanks. In actual use , I find it no faster than IE8/FF3

[gafisher]

>> "I uninstalled Google Chrome due to privacy concerns."

Yeah, "about:n3td3v" brings that up. And your bank info.

[coolfrood]

The about:internets isn't as exciting as you think it is. All it does is run the standard Windows "sspipes.scr" in the window which does all its own rendering.

[keepitsimpleengr1]

The author may believe Google is targeting programmers, but Google "no comment" on a Linux version signifies otherwise

[robrobrob1]

I assume by "no comment" you meant "it's under development"? http://arstechnica.com/journals/linux.ars/2008/09/02/google-unveils-chrome-source-code-and-linux-port

It's a beta version of an open source project, there's nothing stopping you adding the finishing touches and compiling it yourself :)

[The_Decider]

Too bad Mac and Linux users have to no use for spyware.

[thraxinator]

If you have Vista, you won't see the pipes animation. It appears that Chrome grabs the sspipes.scr file located in /Windows/system32 to display the easter egg. If you delete the file, if it is missing or if you have Vista and the animation won't work. But you will get a blank tab with "The Pipes Are Clogged".

[honorable1]

Not many people trust foolgle these days. I don't see this trust ever returning as the company has shown its true nature to care less about your privacy than its 'fiduciary duty' to take over the world for its stockholders. 'Do No Evil' is a strawman to convince the gullible that their interests are being looked out for. This lie has been revealed by the 'demon' itself in its public statements and consistent actions to slight privacy concerns. You are a 'dossier' with foolgle, nothing else. You represent a chance to get maximum $$ for 'total knowledge' about you, your behaviors, your likes/dislikes, etc. etc. etc.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this as it can serve the users well. The problem is whether you Trust the company offering you the services. A trustworthy company does those things the user is interested in and agrees to. If this trust can be built and privacy maintained then this is a win-win, instead of foolgle's They Win - You Lose, and a successful company will make.

Take heed my friends. There are things coming on the horizon that foolgle will not be able to combat. Credibility is everything. Once it's lost, it's a batlle to get it back. Honesty requires sacrifice and admitting to mistakes of clearly good intention, with the users' participation. Particular attention is critical if you're on the side of user controlled, and company enforced, privacy.

[Kwasiowusu]

@ skillingssucks: "Trust me when I tell you that you're a complete moron"

Trust me when I tell you, you are a lot worse than brian dead. No amount oif spin from you is going to change the fact that Google is pure, unadulterated evil.

[merelogic]

Why can't a company stay not evil... I see our perception of google is moving towards the one we have of microsoft.

[merelogic]

Why can't a company stay not evil... I see our perception of google is moving towards the one we have of microsoft.

[Jonathan]

All of you people are morons. I'm sorry but Google's behavior isn't even a 10th as hostile as MS's over the last 18 years. And yet people are calling for their heads. Why? Because they are the traditional lumbering giant that steps on the local church even though it was by accident. This whole BS about their EULA. Do you tools actually think that Google wants to alienate their customers in a fracking beta browser? Get a clue people. Some idiot at Google probably cut and paste a EULA and someone else gave the OK with only a very cursory evaluation. No great mystery here. No vast conspiracy. Google Fracked up. As for them doing nefarious things with your data. I've seen UFO fanatics who are less paranoid. Some of the things that Google gives you such as targeted ads instead of random viagra ads or hairclub for men ads are all due to analyzing personal information automatically. No one is sitting in a damn booth looking over your personal data. The simple fact is if you want some of the crap Google gives you, you need to provide some information and if you think MS wouldn?t do the same blasted thing you really are a fool.
What all this saber rattling by you people boils down to is that Google is no longer the 50 person company it once was, so you automatically feel threatened. Oh boo hoo. So they are a pretty damn large company. They are easily one of the most open companies on the market. The embrace open source more then even Apple. You don?t like Chrome? Go and develop it yourself. http://code.google.com/chromium/ Don?t see MS or Apple doing that are we? How about Android. Again its open to the masses. But no. You tin hat wearing fools have to turn everything into a mass conspiracy.
Now when the day comes that Google DOES start playing some underhanded slimeball tactics that MS has used in the past. Lets talk. For right now there are plenty of OS?s out there, plenty of other search engines, plenty of browsers, and plenty of online e-mail clients.
What google gives you is a set of tools, that while not one of the most robust on the net, is pretty damn rock solid. And yet you guys complain that they are out to steal your personal info. Whatever. AS if Google gives a crap about you.

[mattumanu]

Johnathan said: Some idiot at Google probably cut and paste a EULA and someone else gave the OK with only a very cursory evaluation.

Do you really think the people at Google are that stupid? A EULA is a legal document that, if it's poorly worded, could get the company in deep legal trouble. If a EULA is only as important you imply that it is, then there is absolutely no need for a EULA in the first place.

[bourgtai]

Dear Mr. Shankland,

Inspect Element is not a mimicry of a plugin of a browser; it's a utility built into WebKit. Users of Safari can "unlock" the command in their own browser by either typing the proper code into Terminal or finding any one of a large number of programs which will execute the code for them.

[cosuna]

To honorable1, here's your check signed "From Microsoft with love".

For now I'm staying with Firefox, since Chrome still has it's rough edges and Apple's Safari works great in Mac, but sucks big time in Windows. IE7 sucks big time in Vista, but works great int XP. So in the end Firefox still rules.

BTW. When will there be a company bold enough to end this Mozilla crap. Browser ID are getting longer and longer and the initial version y getting useless.

IE has always said some thing like this:
"Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0...."
Safari and Chrome read like this:
"Mozilla/5.0 (...) AppleWebKit/525.... (KHTML, like Gecko) ... Safari/525..."
and Firefox makes no difference
"Mozilla/5.0 (....) Gecko/2008070208 Firefox/3.0.1 "

[madams_chromevoice]

This is a great set of "early" programmer tweaky bits. Thanks for putting them all in one place.

I'm hoping that such bits of "geeky goodness" will help spur innovation.

If Google can win the hearts and minds of the geeks, programmers and other "software should be free and open" types, I think they'll win this round of browser/OS wars.

Michael Adams
www.chromevoice.com

[sundance808]

I like the pipes! LOL

[robins_mca]

Chrome is great.. At least in its speed performance.. It loads gmail three times better than any other existing browsers...

[The_Decider]

"3 times better"?

What is that supposed to mean?

I am assuming you mean three times faster. Unless you did real benchmarking(and based on the quality of your comments, you didn't) you can't say that. Besides, how important is it when we are talking about 2 seconds at most?

Is that fraction of a second you are saving worth the privacy violations?

[AppleSuxLeo]

I found it vrery slightly faster on Google`s own apps. On all others , FF3/IE8 was just as fast.
This thing is a security/privacy nightmare. It has been uninstalled already. Did Fisher-Price design it ?

[jscott418]

I have to agree with those who say Google has become a servant too the investor and not the user.
They appear to have a plan that involves Chrome and its ability to better market advertising and Google's
own applications. In the end my conclusion is Google has too much information of mine and I don't intend to feed this apparent need for them to get more. To me this is not what open source should be about and it does seem Google is using it for its gain. Why is it all good things tend to become bad things?
Microsoft was the first failure for this, but Apple is showing signs of it and now Google has joined the fray.

[adkiller2k7]

Chrome is Mozilla + Safari + Google, they used some of the mozilla engine, then added safari webkit on top, then added other stuff and stuck a google logo and interface onto it

[Jonathan]

Umm just a LITTLE more complicated then that.

[AppleSuxLeo]

"Safari WebKit" LOL Safari USES the freely available , opensource WenKit engine. Apple DID NOT invent WebKit.
Nor did they invent VisualVoiceMail. Sprint , Apple and others pay royalties to the patent holder.

[cidman2001]

I'm on the fence on the whole privacy thing. I think the internet has become a "public" place where there should be little real expectation of privacy. In that light, it seems ok to use useage statistics to deliver relevant content whether it's advertisements or other information. If I have to look at ads, at least they are something that I might find mildly interesting.

I know may will scream about "consent"....read your EULA. Most all of them give the content provider consent to gather some type of information. Again, in this day and age there are a small percentage of people who read this crap. If they are paranoid enough, they simply won't use the product. The rest of us will click "accept" and "next"....

[HealthyElijah]

Google Chrome is really nice! Super fast for Gmail Gcal and Gdocs too. I am loving it! I noticed you can drag text entry boxes larger as well. Like the cnet one I am typing in right now, you can drag it and make it as big as you want!

I love dragging tabs into new windows!

Cannot wait for mouse gestures and all the fun extensions to come!

This is a sweet browser!

[t26l]

IE rocks forever
See for yourself

[bharper26]

As far as I can tell, "about:internets" isn't using any kind of web rendering technology. The class name is "d3dsaverwndclass" when you have about:internets running.