I had the eset download site open in another tab and it prompted me for a user id and password in order to download the new version.  From this screen I attempted to click back on my gmail tab – but it wouldn’t let me. The user id/password screen was occupying the browser’s complete attention.

I then downloaded chrome and tried it again – and guess what – it worked.  So there is a real usability difference between IE and chrome – in that the tabs are very independent in chrome – vs. interdependent in IE.   I had forgotten this difference – but it made things more difficult for me….

1. Google announced today they’re planning on testing out a new 1 gigabit internet service (http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi) – so they could be in the neighborhood soon.
2. Google has a DNS service (http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/) – the magic thingy that translates the names we type in into the numbers that define the internet.
3. Google has Gmail – it’s free web-based e-mail service.  It has a corresponding calendar, contacts, etc. service.  One concept of calendars is you can share them – have group calendars, etc.
4. Google has it’s Google Docs – word, processing, spreadsheets, presentation, etc. – so you can do those basics online.
5. Google has it’s own “Groups” concept – for communicating information, sharing documents, etc.
6. They have their “apps” concept – which can be used by organizations, businesses, etc  to put much of their company online – e-mail, calendaring, collaboration, documents, etc.
7. Google has Picasa – a photo sharing site  - with face recognition.
8. Google has YouTube – which means they are the leader in video on the web – of which some of that technology seems to be migrating into the “app” concept.
9. Google has it’s powerful Google Maps – which brings location to the web.
10. Google has Google Voice – which is communication on web – integrated communication.
11. Google has Wave – a collaboration tool.
12. Google even now has it’s own social network – Buzz (http://www.google.com/buzz)
13. Google has a 411 service (which it apparently used to improve voice recognition).
14. Google has Android – it’s mobile phone operating system.
15. Google has it’s own browser (I’m using it now) – to speed up our web experience.
16. Google is designing a new kind of computer – one where the browser is the computer (Chrome OS)

I’m sure I’ve missed quite a few items – as they keep adding them all the time.  What was interesting to me was not just a few interesting tools here and here – but how they seem to be covering the scope of how we interact with computers – pushing us toward their view of the future.  This can be a little disturbing – due to the power they wield.  Ultimately my hope is that by creating more competition they will make for better products and services for us.

• This 1 gigabyte Internet Service – will this help drive down Broadband Prices and bring up speeds?
• Does anyone else think that having Android Phones compete with the iPhone will be better for consumers?
• Does the existence of Picasa potentially force Yahoo to make Flickr better?
• Does the existence of Buzz in Gmail push Facebook to make their messaging concept even better?
• Is the threat of Google making Apple and especially Microsoft improve their “cloud” services?

So I don’t know if we can trust Google – but we can be vigilant in keeping them honest.  Fortunately for us now their business model works in our favor – as when they make the Internet better for their sake – it becomes better for us…

Sometime last year I finally made the plunge and tried Firefox.  I was quite impressed with Firefox – especially with it’s support for more standards (like curved borders!!) and the extensions.  It’s just neat to be able to apply a theme to the browser so it looks cooler.

Recently I decided to try out Google Chrome as I had heard a lot about it too. I find myself really liking Google Chrome – as it seems to work very well.  While I haven’t measured it – it seems to use less resources than Firefox does – and it has some nice features.  I like how the the downloads work – with a bar at the bottom appearing to show the progress and the recent downloads.  The status bar only appears when it’s needed.   You can right-click on a page and it will give you a print option,  search Google on that word, etc.  What I also like about Chrome (or Firefox) is that they have built-in spell checking.

So I narrowly recommend Chrome over Firefox – more for it’s efficiency.  They are both better browsers than IE – offering better standards compliance (web pages work better) and great extensions.  If you are still using IE (Internet Explorer) I would encourage you to try out Firefox or Chrome:

• Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/ (open source from Mozilla Foundation)
• Google Chrome: http://www.google.com/chrome (open source – version built by Google)