People hate IE6; they’ve made that abundantly clear on the web. Unfortunately, plenty of people are still stuck using it for reasons such as their work not letting them upgrade. So Google is doing something about it.
Chrome Frame is a new browser plug-in developed by Google to give you a Chrome browsing experience inside of Internet Explorer. Let me restate that slightly to make it more clear: Chrome Frame turns IE into Chrome.
Yes, it’s both hilarious and awesome (or hilariously awesome, if you will) that Google seems to dislike IE so much that it has spent its own time improving it. Google claims its goals are noble. Talking to Group Product Manager Mike Smith and Software Engineer Alex Russell, they tell us that they simply want to make a more seamless web experience for both web users and developers. That said, they are only targeting one browser, IE, right now.
And that seems fair. IE, which is of course made by Google nemesis Microsoft, is both the largest web browser and the one with a poor history when it comes to web standards. Things have gotten better since IE6, but that’s really not saying much. And standards aren’t the only issue, performance is as well. Chrome Frame injects the latest versions of Chrome’s Webkit and JavaScript engines into IE. These are the versions used in the dev channel builds of Chrome, so they’re actually newer than the ones found in the latest regular release of the browser.
So how does this work? Basically, it’s just a plug-in that creates a new frame inside of IE that is the Chrome browser. The plug-in itself is lightweight (around 500K or so, I’m told), but then it must download around 10 MB of Chrome-related data to work correctly on a machine. The look will be so seamless that a user shouldn’t realize they’re not simply browsing with their regular old version of IE, albeit a much faster and more compliant one, I’m told.
While it is obviously more system-intensive to run two browsers rather than one, I’m told that the overall difference is pretty small since Chrome is designed to give resources back to your machine when you’re not using them with the browser.
In terms of promotion of Chrome Frame, Google says that while it won’t be explicitly advertising it, it will use subtle methods to alert users to its existence. For example, if you browse to a Google app in Internet Explorer that may render better in Chrome, Google might have a message on the page telling you about the plug-in.
The hope is that other developers will use similar messages on their pages. Many already do something like this to tell users to upgrade their browser, but again, this is just a plug-in, rather than requiring you to install a whole new browser. It’s pretty ingenious.
Smith and Russel wanted to make it clear that this plug-in, which is still technically in the testing phase, is just as much for developers as for web surfers. They know all too well the pain of having to design sites specifically for IE’s “quirks” and hope a tool like this can make the web a smoother and easier to develop for environment.
To target the Chrome plug-in for IE, developers simply have to insert a meta tag in their HTML code. If Chrome Frame isn’t found, the page will render just as it normally would in IE.
Chrome Frame will work with IE6, IE7, and IE8 on any Windows-based machine.
I cannot wait to see Microsoft’s reaction to this. This isn’t quite the nuclear bomb that the Chrome OS revelation was, it’s more like a smart bomb.
You can find Google Chrome Frame here. And learn more in the video below.
Most IE6 users will have no clue how to use this.
quite a few people use ie6.. and like it… just like lots of people drive 10 year old cars and have a good experience with them…
not everyone needs the latest/greatest “thing”!!
peace..
your analogy is flawed.
It would make sense if the 10 year old car would break down at every other street.
Your analogy is flawed.
It is more accurate to say IE6 is a car which randomly veers into the ditch no matter how well paved the street.
Doing web development for IE6, though not overly difficult, delays projects and doubles the amount of files on web servers (IE6 transparent PNG support is the bane of any web dev’s existence). There are real issues with keeping IE6 around and I welcome Al the homeless guy to rid the world of IE6, so long as someone does.
Your analogy is flawed.
It just is.
You analogy is flawed.
It would make more sense if the 10 year old car kept breaking down and moving slow. Now that made every road have a speed limit set to the max-speed of said 10-year-old car. Sure, it works for the damned thing, but slows down everything else that could be faster.
@timy,
You obviously don’t have a clue what a culprit IE6 is to the innovation of the internet.
This is the equivelant of taking the most current car parts in the market, and shoving them inside the old car frame.
I like IE because its simple for you damp freaks and opera and also teashark what about these fools!.They are much better than google chrome.Take the latest plugins and add to them simple.You all are heck freaks with shits in your skulls.
sorry guy….
given that i’m damn near 50.. and been using the net in one way or another since ~83.. back when you had gopher and other long forgotten tools… i’m quite familiar with w3 standards, etc…
i’m simply saying that for some, IE6 is quite enough, and they don’t need the bells/whistles from later versions…
you as a developer, need to decide who you want to build your apps for. you can decide to ignore the IE userbase… or not. it’s your choice.
to the car anology. you had enough people who started focusing on cars.. the horse/buggy issue went away.. if enough developers ignore IE6, it’ll go away…
but i know more than a handful of people who are quite satisified with the sites that they deal with using ie6…
so, as a developer, go ahead and ignore ie6…
peace..
the car analogy is broken. the car is the browser, the road is the website. IE6 is a horse. Developers want to design their websites (roads) for fast browsers (cars) but horses can’t use paved roads (w3 compliant browsers) because of their hoofs can’t take the hard impact (IE6 breaks under modern websites). So you know what? We don’t design roads for horses and we don’t allow them on. Highways have minimum speeds required and the web needs to keep up with standards. TV just moved to digital and was forced to per the US gov. And we can’t require internet standards because….?
like i stated…
build your sites using the ‘latest’ functionality for serving up server side content… don’t focus on IE6 users… if enough IE6 users want to access your content, they’ll change.. or not!
but don’t get pissed off if competing services decide to focus on the IE6 crowd as well.. and perhaps take some of your targeted customer base…
every day we all make decisions on what you build for.. i’ve made numerous decisions.. do i stay on pc/intel.. do we go alpha, stay on vax/vms/unix, etc….
but i’m pretty sure that IE6 users aren’t going anywhere for awhile.. just like windows 2000 users are going to be around for awhile…
as a builder/developer, you deal with it… but no one’s putting a gun to your head to support IE6..
peace..
ps.. i reject your interpretation of my anology. in my world, which is shared by the people i hang with… the car is the browser… the road is the pipe… the website is simply one of many stops along the way…
peace
It’s not a matter of being happy, it’s a matter of standards. IE6 users are like the Amish, they just decided that the technology they had at random moment in time was all they ever needed.
The same people who use IE6 must be unaware of how standards have improved their entire lives. Or they would make better decisions. We all know what side of the street to drive on. Imagine if we could choose the side at random. That chaos is unnecessary. We all use electrical devices that we can plug in in other states and other countries. Thanks to standards.
God forbid someone wants to make the lives of everyone easier (google). Sure people are free to choose what they want but if we can find a solution they will use that makes our jobs easier we are somehow not allowed to use it by your retard logic?
Most people using IE6 are forced to by large IT infrastructures in fortune 500 companies solely because they have outdated million dollar apps they don’t want to replace. So instead they make other companies spend millions trying to support a crappy browser. End of story and Timy, I don’t care if you are a 12 year old pretending to know what he’s talking about or an 80 grandpa who was amazed when we saw color TV, you are a complete moron.
Perhaps all of us developers should simply stop making it possible for those POS cars to drive down our standards compliant streets. The only reason your car moves is because people have spent hours making it possible through hacks.
Apply your own duct tape!
we have seen many people with mediocre mentality, who hate excellence. they always hate champions, they want all to be equal and mediocre.
chrome frame looks okey, but it may need admin privileges in workspaces. i always hated chrome for its skin and omnibar, instead of chrome frame I would like “ie skin” on chrome!
I agree that as web developers we need to stop fixing things for IE6 users. If someone using IE6 was unable to view 80% of the sites they visited they would be forced to upgrade. Stop hacking your sites to work with IE6 and force them to upgrade. Web browsers are nothing without the web.
We are not talking about a physical thing that you can put in the closet and show it your grandchildren some day. It’s not a Betamax, 8 Track or Record player.
Now let’s say your using Photoshop from the 90’s and you like it, that’s fine it’s installed locally and does not interact with other systems or elements. I could see using an older version as long as your happy with it. But again, browsers don’t work like that.
The browser by nature is connecting to other networks and should in all honesty be upgraded. But this upgrade should be like the flash player upgrades, Forced on the users. It’s up to Web Developers to force people to do this.
My god we are talking about 10 year old technology, at least upgrade once every 5 years. I could live with that.
If you’re designing a site for a client, you don’t always have the luxury of making those sorts of decisions. The client doesn’t care about the technical aspects and in most cases will not want to shut out a portion of their customers who might then defect to rival companies.
Your analogy is… well… so much fun!
But incomplete.
Everybody knows that a year in Internet is equal to 7 years in the real world (or was that with dogs?). So actually, IE6 is a 70 years old car.
You might have fun with it (if you are a lucky classic – car/browser owner) but the streets are made to drive at other speeds, the fuel is different and you just don’t have enough spare parts to make the damn thing work fine everywhere.
And there are just so much places you can’t get with it, the farthest places aren’t reachable with that old piece of crap. You are entitled to love it anyway, because you know its limitations (Do you?).
But the GC fix is hilariously great.
BTW Google, stop doing shit already! Other people might want have something left to do.
People who cry about the browser are just the developers. End users dont care what they use and they are pretty much happy with IE6.
Chrome will what, make the pages load faster? and then what?
ingenious. My job would be soooo much easier if I didn’t have to make things work for IE6.
I wish they had something like this for my ex-wife… to enable me to turn her into a supermodel. I mean, she would still be herself underneath in terms of DNA, but she would look, act, and feel like a supermodel. Then perhaps I wouldn’t have divorced her.
Wow, and I thought I was an asshole.
Yeah, then perhaps she would have divorced you.
LOL. pwnd?
Definitely.
Made for no one.
Anyone wanting a better browsing experience will use Chrome or Firefox. And will just use them as stand-alones.
Anyone still using IE, either doesn’t care or doesn’t know.
Did you miss the part about folks who’s employers won’t let them make the switch. In some cases you can install and run a plug-in, but do not have the rights (or it’s out of policy) to install and run a completely different browser.
Definitely a targeted plug-in though. Hilariously Awesome.
Sorry to tell you, but most security and MIS admins will only allow specific plug-ins like Flash to run instead of allowing all plug-ins. If a company is limiting what can be installed on the computer, then they should be limiting what can be installed by the plug-in as well since it can be a bigger security risk than an application.
Saying that a plugin is a larger security risk than an application is entirely flawed. An application can install a plugin, so will never be more secure, and depending on what system the plugin is running it it will most likely have further restrictions on what it’s able to do, so often be more secure than an application.
Agree… there are companies which are still not ready to switch there IE6 browsers to other really good browsers .. like the one where I m currently working .. but the best part is they have it installed .. but we can install other browsers as well .. i have got 3 browsers on my PC .. I personally prefer Firefox and then chrome ..
Brilliant! Here’s the link which is missing from the post for some reason:
http://code.goo...me/chromeframe/
If this works without any complications. It is the largest step towards a better web experience.
Why don’t you just download Chrome and use it? Why are you using IE? Why run Chrome inside IE?
Internet Explorer holds back innovation.
Web Applications such as Google Wave would never work on IE6 due to technical restrictions. (Maybe even IE7). IE requires additional budget to any project when developing a major web application (including basic websites).
As long as there are individuals out there using IE technology, large companies will not be able to innovate or take advantage of the technologies present on browsers such as Chrome, Safari or Firefox.
Most IE6 users do not switch to other browsers as they are comfortable with their current setup. This also means they are unaware of what is available to them through other browsers. For these types of users this is a perfect solution.
Lets not forget that IE6 is most than 8 years old!!!!
Your argument is the same as saying that photoshop 4 is holding back creativity because it is unable to do some sort of masking.
Why is no one talking about FireFox’s capabilities back then? Or Safari’s for that matter?
The fact is that IE6 is old and Microsoft (for good reasons) does not update it the same way that none of the other companies are updating their old browsers.
Anyone using IE6 should upgrade, but probably does not want to do so because they are comfortable with what they need it for.
To say that it is holding back innovation is not true. 10 years ago, sites used to have different versions of the site depending on the browser used. Many sites do the same today with Flash and non-flash browsers. If someone wants to use a site that requires a newer browser, let them upgrade to a new browser.
This is not a perfect solution. It is a sneaky way of having users install a browser that they may not want to install or need to install.
You have clearly never worked on developing an application that has had features stripped due to lack of support for the technology in IE browsers.
Look at it this way:
IE6 : Gravel Road
IE7 : Gravel Road + Paved (With Bumps)
IE8 : Paved Road (With a few bumps)
Safari, Chrome (Webkit),Firefox: Smooth Road
Now if a web application is similar to designing a car. Can we build a Ferrari to drive across all these roads? Older roads are holding us back and preventing innovation.
If we call this “sneaky”, the same definition can be applied to a “flash” plugin. The user still makes a choice to download the plugin the first time around, nothing is forced.
Jim, It IS holding back creativity, ask any developer. We spend countless hours just tweaking stuff making it *usable* for IE6 – which nearly always gets a simplified or cut-off experience because of it’s limitations. Time that could have been used to improve the user experience for all.
Have you thought about what you’re saying? If PS4 doesn’t offer some sort of masking that could help a designer achieve a better result, isn’t that a limitation that could hinder creativity?
It’s ok for static websites, yes, but not for modern web applications.
Try 280slides.com in IE6 and then in Safari/Chrome/FF. Try Google Spreadsheets with a large file on both. See chromeexperiments.com on IE6 (hehe). This: http://9element...s/html5/canvas/. Now wonder why Youtube, Digg, 37signals and lots of others including Google want to drop IE6 support. Or lookup “HTML5″ and find out for yourself.
I don’t get why you are comparing an 8 year old browser to a 1 year old (released) browser such as Chrome.
Also, why do you expect a company to constantly update this browser? Just because it is popular? Why not talk to Apple and find out why they do not update the UI on the iPod 5th Generation (4 years old) when the new interface on the new iPods is so much better?
Is it because it is Microsoft? If you are a web designer and you design something for a specific browser, then go ahead and require that browser. Why is there no uproar about Apple’s refusal to support Flash on the iPhone? As a web designer, you should be pissed off that you have to write a different site for the iPhone. And this is brand new technology and a brand new browser.
it’s pretty much opt-in so nothing “sneaky” that I can see. Stupid? Maybe. But I’ll give Google credit for at least not twisting your arm. What I question is if it’s even legal to take a closed-source proprietary browser and layer a frame from another entity over it, then distribute it for anyone else to use. I’m not taking up for either company since I happen to dislike them both, but Google doing this does raise some strange questions.
@ Ricardo: “It’s ok for static websites, yes, but not for modern web applications.” No, it’s really not OK for “static websites”/blogs/journals, either. I’m using an IE6 compatible layout on the blog I link to here – in 2009 – because of backward-compatibility issues, and that is not OK with me. Having to be IE6 compatible has severely restricted which layouts I can use – since I can only use much older, still-compatible (and thus, incomplete) layouts that I have to finish HTML hard-coding myself through LJ’s s2/Perl compiler. This is really not how I want to work.
Worthless. A snarky publicity stunt that amounts to picking on the “special” kid at the playground.
Too easy, not funny.
Ah, so it’s politically incorrect. Let’s weep now for poor IE6.
@nopa. You do realize that you just said IE6 was retarded?
lol. ie6 = special kid. dude youre amazing.
This is just plain dumb… Funny… But Dumb… What is the point?
People who want to use Chrome can download it and install in on their machines. And the reasoning is just plain stupid. This is not a tool for developers or anything that would allow sites to display their pages better. I personally do not understand why anyone who is capable of installing it, configuring it, and using it will not just download chrome and use it.
This is probably something that was created as a proof of concept to illustrate that chrome can be used inside apps that support a plug-in model and someone thought that it was “cool” enough to make it available publicly.
What a waste of time… Is google really thinking that putting in small messages eluding to this that they will really take more market share from Microsoft? I wonder if that plug-in will make it into their “market share statistics” as well.
“People who want to use Chrome can download it and install in on their machines.”
No, many users just can’t.
“I personally do not understand why anyone who is capable of installing it, configuring it, and using it will not just download chrome and use it.”
Don’t proclaim it’s dumb if, by your own admission, you don’t understand it.
Users may want to install this plugin because:
- Installing a plugin to add functionality to your browser is something many IE users already do; they install toolbars, Flash Player, sometimes other less common media-related plugins, etc. Some users don’t like change, especially when what they’re using is both familiar and satisfactory for them. If a website they like or are interested in says some features (or any kind of access maybe) require a plugin, they may be willing to install that plugin.
- You seem to think that all users have a comprehensive knowledge of what a web browser is, what choices are available, and how to act if they want to use a different browser. It’s just not the case. There are many knowledge and psychological issues regarding the use of any device or software, the upgrading or installation and use of software, etc. Many (most?) users have no idea what they are using is a “web browser”. Really, most people use “the Internet”, not a “browser (a what?)”. They won’t upgrade their browser if it’s not automatic or semi-automatic. Even if they have some knowledge of what a web browser is, they may not feel comfortable upgrading, let alone installing a new one. Mozilla run a survey of why Firefox 2 users wouldn’t upgrade, and while many had tried Firefox 3 (remember that a good deal of Firefox users are tech-savy), there were quite a few who hadn’t and who feared it would break things, or that they had to pay to upgrade.
- Many IE6 users, maybe the majority of them by now in the USA and in Europe, cannot upgrade because they’re using a work computer on which system upgrades are frozen and controled by the IT department, installation of software is restricted, etc. There are many reasons why IT departments are stuck with IE6, some are good, some are the lasting consequences of bad choices in the past, and some outright error or lack of IT strategy.
There are reasons why IT departments may want to deplay the Chrome Frame plugin themselves on their IE6 machines:
- They are stuck with IE6 or IE7 for some internal applications that require it.
- Yet, with time, their users are denied access to some “no IE6(-7)” websites and tools, which offer both upgrades (to IE7 or IE8 or another modern brother) and the Chrome Frame plugin as a compatibility path.
- Productivity application makers may offer them interesting products fitting their needs, but only compatible with modern browsers. Once again, IE6 or IE7 (or sometimes even IE8) + Chrome Frame might provide an interesting compatibility path.
Google’s strategy with this initiative seems to be: refine it first (with beta/preview versions), then a phase of user adaption, then a phase of courting the IT departments with deployment tools. I’m not sure they’ll be able to do that last one, though, as Google has far less experience with IT deployment that Microsoft has.
Anyway, this initiative is not dumb; it’s clever. Time will tell if it’s gonna be clever but failed, or clever and efficient.
Well said.
Where can I download this plug-in from ?
link is in the story twice.
It wasn’t when I asked ..
I apologize on behalf of MG. He forgot you are an IE6 user. You need to follow the link in the story *and* then click where it says “Get Google Chrome Frame”.
Installing on the Windows Dell now. What could possibly go wrong? It’s not as if IE is going to get worse.
quite right.
I suppose if it *did* get worse we could call it the Internet Exploder Exploder. Can’t wait…
I’ve seen some really funny IE6 Warnings from various websites, but unfortunately, I can’t find any of them. Some were really hilariously vulgar and aggressive. Like: “Your browser is a f***ing piece of sh**. You’re not welcome here. Don’t come back until you have a better browser…” or something like that.. (I should also mention, that I’ve only seen screenshots
I wonder if they will do the same with Safari, FireFox on both the PC and the Mac. Google is here to take over all browsers!
they said they’d consider it, but something tells me this may be IE-only.
MG, I am willing to bet you that this is IE only. I doubt that this was done with improving anyone’s browsing experience in mind. Companies have used tactics like these in the past to jab at their competitors and make a point about their technology.
I wonder how long it will be before someone develops a plug-in for Chrome to embed the IE engine in Chrome.
Hell, I’d be happy when Chrome will support customizing the toolbar!
Yes, a browser that launched in Sept. of last year should have every feature of the other browsers already around for at least 5 years…
This is opt-in.
Frame makes it easier for some people to use services they want to and have a better experience.
I will not use it.
What is your problem?
oops
it’s a hilarious statement on their feelings towards IE, if nothing else.
will google serve ads in the chrome frame?
It’s a rendering engine, your tiny brain seems to have a problem understanding that.
Why would it influence ads ?! It will just render pages in a more standards-compliant way, faster, and with less suck.
What for? In other browsers (even older versions of them) there isn’t that much to “fix”. And Safari runs on the same engine as Chrome – Webkit – so it would be pointless for them to take a shot at that.
Do the words “counter productive” mean anything.
It doesn’t appear to make any sense that you would create a plugin that would give IE the appearance of being better.
Unless it’s targeted at enthusiast. How is regular user going to know it’s a hybrid? And if the over all goal is to move away from IE why use IE as the plugin platform?
Let’s think this through again shall we.
The user doesn’t need to know, it will just work when needed. It’s meant for computers where you can’t install new software.
Good point- computer-savvy family member installs Chrome plug-in for IE, IE suddenly runs better, other users of that computer who have no idea what’s under the hood think IE is working great and can’t understand why it gets such a bad rap, and Microsoft gets the credit for having a “better” browser than most people give them credit for. Hmmmm.
It’s not at all counter productive. You’re missing the point entirely.
Google didn’t create Chrome because it makes money when people use it. Google makes money when people use the web more often. If the web experience for any single person is better, then they will use the web more and Google is able to serve them more ads. If Google Chrome never passes 5% market share, but forces all other browsers to be better, then Google wins. Google just wants the web to be faster for everybody, no matter what browser they use.
Would you please define what a “better” browser is?
If you mean bookmark management, user interface stuff, additional user-space functionality… well these may make a browser better, but they’re not the target here.
The target is 1) compatibility with standards and technology IE doesn’t support (especially in old versions such as IE6 and IE7), and 2) improving performance of websites. All these are directed towards making great web applications possible even on old IE browsers (transparently, through a plugin). Guess who has a lot of talented engineers working on web applications? Google, and a few others. Guess who doesn’t (or at least they’re way behin)? Microsoft, and many users.
Really cool Google.
This has absolutely nothing to do with helping users and everything to do with trying to embarass a rival.
Good to know that the Google Chrome Browser is perfect and cannot be improved upon at all, right Google guys? Because if that were true, this little escapade would show some pretty poor decision-making about where to spend our time, wouldn’t it?
Good job painting an unnecessary target on your backs!
No browser is perfect, and Google engineers obviously know that. Plus, it’s not about advancing their browser (though it might help a bit), but about embedding the rendering engine of Safari and Chrome (that’s Webkit) and a very fast JavaScript engine (Google’s V8) in a sub-par browser. The goal is to further the reach of a more capable platform, because that platforms favors those who bet on web applications (Google) and not their predecessors (Microsoft).
I really don’t think they’re pulling a joke or are trying to embarass their rival. They’re trying to put a trojan horse (not the computer virus kind) in the sub-par browser that their rival controls, so that they can offer their most innovative web applications to more users. Microsoft’s browser is blocking their progress, so they’re doing their best to circumvent it, through direct competition (Google Chrome) and clever ruses (Chrome Frame).
This misses the entire point of why IE 6 can’t be killed. Some corporate software is reliant on IE6 features like xml data islands.
Andrew, fanboys like the ones that commented about how cool this is have never worked in a corporate environment to know this. To them, Microsoft has done nothing to advance computing and only hurt the computing world so they take stories like these as how the world should be.
The plug-in is perfect for corporate environment exactly because it doesn’t kill IE6. Users can browse Google Docs and YouTube in Chrome Frame, and still use their beloved intranet ActiveX apps made ten years ago.
This is looks pretty cool, though the only people who could (or would want to) install this are those who already have the power to switch to use chrome / firefox.
On the otherhand, as a website has to ask to be rendered with the webkit engine, it could be viable for IT depts to upgrade as it shouldn’t interfere with websites made for IE (like owa)
the way i look at it, the only reason for developing this plugin is to make google wave more accessible
“The plug-in itself is lightweight (around 500K or so, I’m told), but then it must download around 10 MB of Chrome-related data to work correctly on a machine.”
Oh sure. The end user won’t notice that extra 10 MB worth of stuff downloading in the background. Very user-friendly…. wtf?
Yeah, who wants to wait 2 or 3 minutes to improve their web browser?
“I am told.”
I’ll reiterate what the article and Comments have said, for you numbnuts like Jim Z….there are people working at Major Companies who are not permitted to use any browser except IE6. I know Avaya is one example.
So this is pretty cool of Google.
There is a reason why companies use Microsoft technologies. They are manageable. As a MIS admin, I am able to lock down the browser and only allow users to visit sites that I want them to visit and control which plug-ins are installable and which are not.
Considering that employees in the workplace are becoming less and less productive due to the internet, cell phones, texting, etc…, more and more companies control that by limiting their employees’ interactions with their computers.
The problem with Google (and Apple) fanboys is that they are working in the theoretical world and not the practical world. Yes, the iPhone is one of the best smartphones out there, but good luck if your exchange organization is requiring an encrypted storage for security purposes. Throw that iPhone out the door. The same goes for Chrome. Good browser (I used it for a while) but good luck customizing it, controlling it, or managing it from the server.
Okay, I call bull@#$^. Locking down web browsing at the browser level is … idiotic. There are dozens of better, simpler, more maintainable and more reliable means of doing that. DNS? Transparent inline web proxy?
That you actually believe that the remote management software that windows supports is easier/safer/better than what is out there for OSX/Linux is a testament to the M$ PR machine.
At *BEST*, the MS policy management tools are only as good as what I can do on my mixed OS X and Linux network. Personally, I have better patch control, installation management and remote deployment capabilities for the macs on my network than I have ever had, or been exposed to on a windows deployment – Including large installations in fortune 500 companies.
And ask yourself this second question. How good was RIM’s remote security when the bberrys were only two years old? Actually, that’s a rhetorical question. It wasn’t awful, it wasn’t even weak, it simply didnt even exist. Remote wipe? Whatever. Encrypted volume? get a grip.
Sure it’s a publicity stunt by google, but you know what? I run a site for one of those backward companies that won’t even deploy IE7, and about 15% of my users will be jumping all over this plugin unless its absurdly unstable. I won’t even have to tell them about it.
The joke is on Google in your case. Most companies do not give their employees admin rights to install this thing.
I guess this numbnut knows a little more than you about MIS administration…
Seriously? Why are you all over this thread bashing this plugin and spewing MS love? As a webapp developer, this has me more excited than I’ve been in years. It would be AMAZING if I could direct my IE6/7/8 users to install this thing, and then not worry about the IE users seeing garbage javascript performance. As it is, they’re a serious f’ing drag on my productivity and on what I can do with my apps. I know your company probably has a ton of money invested in MS stuff, and you probably spent a lot of money on worthless MS certifications, but please do your workers and webapp devs a favor and either install this on all their machines, or better yet, install a browser that isn’t a heaping pile of garbage.
Do you really want your company to be like those stores that still have the DOS machines because they can’t be bothered to upgrade? Think of it as a relatively cheap bonus for your workers, that will make them hate working for your company less.
http://saveie6.com – save it… SAVE IT.
You just gotta be kidding right? IE6 sucks since the day it was released (even beforehand, by that matter). So stop tricking people with that junk as it’s not helping the Web at all. All those statements in that website are incorrect.
You seemed to have missed the following on the site:
“SaveIE6.com was put together as an April Fool’s joke by the uptime monitoring service Pingdom. Due to the tremendous interest it has received we have decided to keep this site up and running. Thanks everyone for the great feedback and for enjoying the irony!”
hahaha great site… if only safari would add support for ActiveX…
I think what would be really useful is a plugin for Chrome that can host IE 6.
Now that would be cool !
Google is trying to fix what Microsoft won’t pay to fix themselves. I stand behind Google. If Firefox/Chrome can’t kill it, fix it.
They have already fixed it, and the fix is called IE8.
This is like picking on the popular kid of 8 years ago (which BTW, at that time was better than anything out there) and thrashing it for cheap publicity.
You’re right, it’s dumb to blame IE6 still being used on MS, that falls on IT departments around the world’s heads MS even did a forced upgrade if I’m not mistaken.
However, this fixes ALL versions of IE, including 8, which is still broken – as MS are refusing to play the HTML5 party.
Not just HTML5 (it’s a bit early to ask Microsoft to implement it, as it’s not even a Last Call document at the W3C now — IE9 is a decent milestone for some HTML5 implementation), but standard JavaScript, SVG, and other rather old specs are all lacking in IE8. IE8 as complete CSS 2.1 support which is great, but it’s not enough for rich web apps.
What an utter waste of time. It would be far more valuable for Google to spend time improving Chrome, rather than trying to retrofit it into a competing browser. It’s like trying to embed a competing word processor into Word. Dumb.
“It would be far more valuable for Google to spend time improving Chrome”
One of Google’s objectives in entering the browser market is to improve the platform: more support for better technology for more users. They obviously don’t do it out of charity: they’re betting on the Web platform, rich web applications, etc.
This Chrome Frame plugin could have a much bigger impact on the platform as a whole than the Chrome browser itself. Say the Chrome browser never goes beyond 5% of users, while the Chrome Frame plugin gets installed for half of IE6 and IE7 users. The plugin wins.
They just spent a lot of money on the engine part of Chrome (though they were able to reuse Webkit) in the last three or four years. If a bit more work gets that technology on even more computers, that makes perfect sense. Remember, the point is to improve the platform, because compared to their competitors they rule that platform.
Makes perfect sense. Read my comments on similar lines elsewhere.
This is ubiquity play by Google. But Google has done a great job to masses.
I really think that they have helped a generation startups to innovate.
MG – If Explorer was an iPhone, this ‘app’ might be dead on arrival. Just tried it on IE8 under Windows 7. Completely transparent … Much faster and no sneaky tricks (IE: changing the default search provider). In other words … it works … and you have no idea it’s even there. Very cool.
It has the nasty problem that the installer requires admin. So if the corp won’t let people run another browser, they’re certainly unlikely to have admin…
This is awesome!
Now companies have no excuse for poluting the internet, with non-standards compliant browsers.
This should make web developers VERY happy!
MINIMUM…MINIMUM…PC vendors who insist on shipping their PCs with IE, should install this plug-in, for the benefit of their customers AND web developers.
The only way this could be funnier is if Apple did the same thing with safari.
You do realise that Safari and Chrome are both built on WebKit (i..e for most web developers they are effectively the same browser).
this rocks!
Is this the borg getting assimilated?
This rocks!
Sometimes i wish I was wealthy enough to pull really good pranks or give gag gifts to my friends – ala Bam Margera cutting a sunroof into his lamborghini with Billy Idol.
I get the notion there’s some element of this feeling at Google.
This is purely awesome. I passionately hate ie6.
This is awesome.
seems cool but haven’t found much use yet >-<
Not sure I get it. If you don’t have admin rights to install software because your company’s IT department has everything locked down and you can’t upgrade your browser … you still can’t install Chrome Frame.
This is very smart from Google’s part. It’s a trojan horse at the heart of the enemy!
I guess, it’s also a BIG slap in the face of Microsoft!!!
Chairs must be flying again over in Redmont
Where was this announced? I don’t see any mention on the Google or Chrome blogs.
Here:
http://blog.chr...rome-frame.html
How does the effect the millions of IE extensions that manipulate content independent developers have put together for IE? Does it break every toolbar ever written out there, or have they somehow managed to make it compatible?
You guys dont understand, this means we can start developing with html5 pretty much today.
Yes in the middle of the religious wars on this page
that has been overlooked.
-1 to lazy companies (of all denominations) and +1 to web developers – who can now get on and improve user experience. I for one (as a web developer) am grateful to have this option.
For those that feel they should write an IE6/7/8 plugin for Chrome – feel free
I’m not sure what your aim is in doing that, but feel free none the less.
Can you imagine the crapstorm that would sweep over MS if the story was reversed and MS was hijacking a Google app? Is this even legal? at the very least it’s unethical. Don’t be evil is dead — probably has been for a long time.
I think its a neat achievement but sadly I don’t think its going to have much impact on the problems of users and developers.
I think the users still accessing the web with IE6 are doing so for a reason.
As noted and suspected most will be employees or people in institutions with out-dated software policies that still wont be able to install the plugin, there are people that don’t know what a browser is or care and will (so long as they don’t update get a new machine) still be happy using IE6 because they are oblivious to the difference.
I personally think the only way to get people off IE6 is for developers to drop support for it, provide “content only” (no js, no style) as we did effectively did with Netscape Navigator in the past.
Google, what a joke. It seems for every step forward they take two back. Around my circles, Google is continuously losing credibility with stupid stunts like this.
The only place a plugin like this has any use is on a corporate machine where the user does not have admin access. Of course, the plugin requires admin access.
Google == FAIL
So Google providing a plug-in that makes IE render WebKit, which is a pretty good web-standards compliant rendering engine and a part of Chrome’s components in the horrible browser is stupid? Most bosses of the corps around are as dumb, if not more than their workers, so they’re the stupid ones for slowing the evolution of the web and for helping ignorant users to remain in ignorance.
As an actual web developer that needs to support large enterprise customers, I can say that this is a VERY cool idea.
I mentioned concept to my coworkers a few weeks ago in a “wouldn’t it be great, but nobody has the time to do this…” sense, and it’s amazing to see that Google didn’t just think of it, they actually did it!
The prevalence of IE6 in corporate IT environments is truly depressing (still ~25% in my experience), and much of it is due to bureaucratic IT security policies or users being unable/afraid to install a new browser on their machine. For developers like me, it’s not as simple as just blocking IE6 users and leaving a bit of revenue on the table, though I would love to do so.
Many poor corporate drones will undoubtedly still be unable to install a plugin, but many users might be able to install this, and be less wary about installing this than a full-blown app.
Any PR mojo this gets GOOG is well-deserved — I have wasted too many hours of my life on IE6, and expect the genesis of this idea at Google was due to the same frustration, not as cynical PR stunt. The tobacco spit in MS’ eye is just a bonus.
Yeah, sure, you can start developing with html5 but that also means that we’re going to give all of your online web browsing habits and private data to Google.
It’s OK, man. I’d be embarrassed if anyone found out I used IE6, too. *pat pat*
Yeah, because Google owns HTML5 and using it means all your personal data goes to Google. And if course if you use Webkit or V8 all your personal data goes to Google.
Or not?
Now it is clear why Chrome doesn’t have plugins, they afraid of IE plugin for Chrome.
Wow, what a stupid idea and phenomenal waste of talent. It overlooks the reason why individuals are still using IE6 and puts Google in the crosshairs of IT as making their life more difficult.
Frankly, most companies that are still using IE6 most likely have policies in place that not only prevent the download/upgrade of IE but also the addition of plugins.
So, Google gets an A+ for ingenuity, but a C- for practicality.
Most companies with IT policies for acceptable plugins allow Flash or deploy it themselves. Even though Flash has its own security issues, and rather slow security fix updates.
So it’s not too far-fetched to think that, with time (and websites that require a modern rendering engine), IT departments may want to add Chrome Frame to their IE6/7/8 setups. Results not guaranteed, obviously, but there is potential.
Sneaky sneaky. But a great idea for those that are forced to use IE at work, etc.
Comparing one year old browser with 8 years old browser is simply a poor attempt.
Both the one year old browser and the height year old ones are on the market, and are used to some extent. This is not about comparing the merits of browsers, this is about gaining more support for modern technologies.
Oh, and IE8 (a six-month old browser) doesn’t support many technologies for advanced web apps. So even for IE8, using Chrome Frame will be an improvement.
Now we just need to wait for the hypothetical situation where someone writes a virus that installs this on the infected machine…..