Google & the Browser wars

[Connie]

Thought this article by a writer at CNET News.com was interesting.

<snippet>
Google has hired the lead programmer of the FireFox Web browser, the newest step in the search engine powerhouse's encroachment on Microsoft's turf. </snippet>

Full Article

I had read a few months ago Google had dropped development of their browser and would probably help or push FireFox. Had to be true I read it on the Internet.

I wonder if this is a way to support FireFox or if they are pursing on with the development of their own Browser as they continue to bump heads with MSN?

[Connie]

And now there is two.

Google hires another member of the FireFox team

[Brandon]

Good moves by Google

[Raven]

So does that mean that the next Mozilla browser will be jointly made by Google... or... is the Google browser going to be something entirely different?

[Brandon]

My bet is on a new Google browser.... otherwise why would Google be hiring ex-Mozilla staff instead of working with Mozilla to alter/upgrade the exixting browsers?

[tank]

I think FireFox 2.0 will be a merge between Google and FireFox. Using both identities in the browser and integrating the Google Web search tool even further with some Gmail interface as well.

Firefox is the first browser to give MS a run for it's money. they would be fools to change the identity of something that is so popular.

[Connie]

I tend to agree with tank although at this point anything is speculation. Even if Google does go for thier own browser it will be an offshoot of FireFox.

[Spathiphyllum]

This expansion, or mission creep, by Google into yet another field will be interesting to watch in the coming years. Anyone think this might be the early evolution into a monopoly á la Gates and Microsoft?

[jason]

GoogleOS anyone?

Perhaps a Linux core with the look, feel, and easy setup of Windows.

--Jason

[Spathiphyllum]

GoogleOS anyone?

Perhaps a Linux core with the look, feel, and easy setup of Windows.

Hmmm. GoogleOS? Maybe Gos if they follow current trends. Or how about Gooos (Google operating system?

Either way, sounds plausible. Anyone seen Mr. Torvalds recently? Have they gotten to him yet? [play sinister music]

[jason]

Anyone seen Mr. Torvalds recently? Have they gotten to him yet? [play sinister music]

I was thinking the exact same thing.

--Jason

[jason]

Or how about Gooos (Google operating system?[play sinister music]

But the more files you have on your computer, the longer the name grows...

Gooooooooooooooooooos

--Jason

[mattsiegman]

Google already has a Google OS, they use it on their servers It was designed for an excessivly huge amount of huge files over a huge number of hard drives and speed.

[Spathiphyllum]

Google already has a Google OS, they use it on their servers It was designed for an excessivly huge amount of huge files over a huge number of hard drives and speed.

No kidding? Something novel and not a clone of something else? Well now, the plot thickens. Instead of a PC approach, maybe their future holds a server-centric OS with multiple distributed nodes rather than an array of independent clients. Seeing as the developers originate from an environment where *nix reigns supreme, this might not be unexpected.

They already follow one paradigm from the research world in their search engine technology. Google uses the number of links to a page as a heavy weight to assign elevated priority to that web source. Such weighting is done when determining the relative significance of research publications in academia. The more a peer reviewed paper is referenced by others, the higher its perceived value to the research community. This exact same thing applies to the relative importance of individual web page publications with the internet users serving as the peer reviewers.

Since such thought permeates researchers, so would the environment from where they came. Hence, *nix derived solutions (i.e. server centric) might be expected.

Just a theory. Would any peers like to review it?

[kornmonkie]

I use and enjoy Google, but I would wonder if integrating the search engine with the browser, would cause a bigger security concern then what google alread presents to some websites. Like the statistics and description of the pages you are surfing?

Sorry Engrish works for me.