Do you run Mac OS X or Linux? If so, then you’ve either missed out on using Google’s Chrome web browser or you’ve found an undesirable workaround. I’ve tried two of those workarounds (Chromium and using Chrome in a Windows virtual machine), but a native version of Chrome is far preferable. Google is finally sharing some high level plans for non-Windows versions of Chrome, hoping for a release in the first half of the year.
The other big holdup for wider adoption is the lack of extension support, but that appears to be progressing faster than a Mac or Linux browser. Google has already announced a framework for extensions that allow developers to design and implement custom features or functions. Just last week, they added experimental support for user scripts similar to Greasemonkey.
If Google does release fully functional but basic versions of Chrome for Mac and Linux by mid-year, that’s sure to help a little with adoption. Extensions and additional user customization features are the big-ticket items though; the sooner Google enables that, the sooner they’ll begin to grow market share. Given the relatively limited customization options for IE 7, I suspect that Google will take the most market share away from Microsoft, followed by Safari. Since Firefox users already have an extensive set of extensions and a fast JavaScript engine with TraceMonkey in the upcoming browser version, I don’t think they’ll lose too much share.
Assuming Google hits their target dates, I expect they could shoot to third for overall browser market share by end of year, behind Microsoft and Firefox. I’m not overlooking Opera here, as they make an excellent browser. I simply don’t see them having the marketing muscle or the brand-recognition the other players have at the moment.
{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2009\/01\/11\/google-chrome-browser-for-mac-linux-by-mid-2009\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_1820f2f24e7832b4527f1d4efdaaef1f","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}