Passage 4 Google Builds a Better Browser
谷歌暴露其擴(kuò)張野心 《時(shí)代周刊》
[00:00]We spend an unreasonable amount of time browsing the Web every day.
[00:07]As a Google exec put it, "Many users probably spend more time
[00:13]in their browser than they do in their car."
[00:16]Yet most of us barely notice which browser we're using
[00:21]we tend to stick with whatever comes loaded on our computer,
[00:25]as long as it allows us to check our e-mail, do a little shopping,
[00:31]peruse Facebook and send the occasional tweet.
[00:36]We live and work within a browser, and it makes no difference
[00:40]whether it's Microsoft's Internet Explorer,
[00:43]Apple's Safari or Mozilla's Firefox, as long as it gets the job done, right?
[00:51]But things are different now.
[00:55]After years of dominating search on the Web,
[00:58]Google is looking to change the way we go about surfing it.
[01:03]A little more than a year ago,
[01:06]it launched the second version of Google Chrome for Windows.
[01:11]It was simple, clean and fast.
[01:15]In December the company released Chrome for Mac and Linux,
[01:19]which helped catapult the browser past Safari in total market share.
[01:25]It now trails only Firefox and the ultimate preloader, Explorer.
[01:32]Chrome's many virtues include security and stability.
[01:38]But speed stands out as its key differentiator.
[01:43]Independent studies show that Chrome boots up and loads Web pages faster
[01:48]than Explorer or Firefox. Who doesn't want that?
[01:53]Chrome is not only fast; it's free.
[01:57]So why has Google been putting so much effort into developing it?
[02:03]For one thing, because of the rise of Web-based applications.
[02:08]These let you create documents and spreadsheets, listen to music,
[02:13]edit photos at Photoshop.com and check your voice mail online.
[02:19]"But the pace of innovation in the browser space wasn't keeping up,"
[02:24]says Brian Rakowski, director of product management for Google Chrome.
[02:30]"So we decided to start designing a browser from the ground up to see
[02:36]if we could build one that is faster,
[02:39]easier to use and fundamentally more secure."
[02:43]So far, more than 40 million users have downloaded it.
[02:49]But Google's plan for world domination is far from complete.
[02:55]Scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2010 are netbooks
[03:01]that will run on Chrome OS rather than Windows or some other operating system.
[03:07]These devices will be optimized for the Web
[03:11]and will boot up directly into the browser,
[03:14]with no desktop as we know it today.
[03:17]It's unclear whether Google will license the operating system
[03:21]to manufacturers like HP and Acer or put out its own hardware
[03:28]in the form of an official Google Chrome OS netbook.
[03:33]Either way, you won't be able to purchase Chrome OS
[03:37]to install on your computer. You will have to buy a new netbook
[03:42]if you want the full Google experience.
[03:45]If there's any doubt that Google has been gunning for Microsoft,
[03:50]then Chrome OS certainly puts that to rest. It's your move, Microsoft.
[03:56]Good luck.
