Chrome antics: did Google reverse-engineer Windows?

Via ARS Technica

By Peter Bright | Published: September 22, 2008 – 06:00PM CT

In the sandbox

Since its release a few weeks ago, curious developers have been sniffing through the source code for Google’s new Chrome web browser. Chrome’s source is interesting for a variety of reasons: there’s the new V8 JavaScript virtual machine with its boasts of near-native code performance, the WebKit rendering engine that does all the hard work of understanding and displaying web pages, and (last but not least), Chrome’s secure sandbox designed to minimize the impact of any security flaws that might exist in both the browser and plugins alike. It is this secure sandbox that has piqued the curiosity of some observers, and for a reason that many may find surprising. From reading the source, it looks as though Google has reverse-engineered Windows, and that’s explicitly prohibited by the Windows EULA.

But before looking at the question of disassembly, it’s worth taking a look at how Chrome is put together and at why its security architecture is interesting.

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Chrome is Getting More Attractive All the Time

Via Mashable - by Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins

It’s no big secret, most of us here at Mashable are in love with the new browser on the block, Google Chrome.  After a few hours of testing, it became my default browser. Stan Schroeder found that he was almost “blown away” after his initial testing. Steven Hodson would have declared his love for the browser if he wasn’t afraid they’d revoke his “cranky old fart” membership.

Sean P. Aune has been on the fence with Chrome for a number of reasons, but mostly because he misses his Firefox add-ons when he’s in Chrome. We might have the thing that finally pushes him over the edge, now, because we just got a note from an enterprising developer named Kazuho Oku, who’s developed something he calls Greasemetal:

Greasemetal is a userscript runtime for Google Chrome (what Greasemonkey is for Mozilla Firefox).

Since the release, the biggest drawback of Google Chrome has been its luck of customizability. Many developers and users are asking for creating / using plugins to improve their usability.  A userscript runtime was one of the most often heard requests.

I was one among them, and decided to create my own.  And now that I have developed Greasemetal, we are able to use my favorite userscripts on Google Chrome!

Theoretically, this enables the bevy of userscripts available from the repository of scripts designed to run under Greasemonkey and Greasekit (the Safari equivalent). It’s an easy install, clocking in at just over a meg, and doesn’t seem to add a substantial slow-down or memory load on my browser since I installed it.

So now’s a perfect time to start importing any scripts you’re currently addicted to in old browser, or review some of our old script lists we’ve put together like 7 Essential Greasemonkey Scripts For FriendFeed and Pimp Your Facebook With Greasemonkey.

German Security Office Smells Stink on Google Chrome

Via Mashable

by Paul Glazowski

Germany’s Office for Information Security, also known as the BSI, has apparently looked at Google’s Chrome browser and felt a pinch of uneasy déjà vu (a la Microsoft), only this time sensing that the company behind the software wants to know too much about you, too often. As a result, the BSI is advising anyone who’ll listen to steer clear of the crayon invader’s brand new beta. At least for anything other than experimental tasks.

Though this isn’t a warning stretched to the whole EU, the fact is that the BSI’s red flag has been shown by a number of German media stalwarts, including Berliner Zeitung and Tagesschau, the second of which is a news program widely viewed by the public. Which makes for fairly substantial news. And just so we’re thorough, the way we’ve learned of this official relay is the through the German blog Spreeblick, sourced by Philipp Lensen of Google Blogoscoped. Lensen summarized the matter thusly:

The Federal Office for Information Security warned Internet users of the new browser Chrome. The application by the company Google should not be used for surfing the Internet, as a spokesperson for the office told the Berliner Zeitung. It was said to be problematic that Chrome was distributed as an unfinished advance version. Furthermore it was said to be risky that user data is hoarded with a single vendor. With its search engine, email program and the new browser, Google now covers all important areas on the Internet.

To be honest, a part of me wishes to draw a bit of humor from this news chain. After all, it’s not as if Google hasn’t walked this line before. It manages vast amounts of user data, regularly distributes “unfinished advance version(s)” of software and services, and generally gives privacy hawks the willies. On the other hand, we knew this moment would come.

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Chrome Coming to Android

Via Tech Crunch – by John Biggs on September 3, 2008

The browser-bearing world was atwitter yesterday with the announcement of Google’s Chrome browser. Just about overnight, they’ve managed to convince hordes of people that Chrome is the way to browse on your PC. Next step? They’re taking it mobile.

According to an interview with Google co-founder Sergey Brin, the two projects will start working together more closely now that both are approached 1.0 releases, with the Android browser adopting much of Chrome’s inner workings. He also expects the mobile browser to pick up a new name to indicate the relation to it’s bigger, full-blown browsin’ brother.

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Mozilla Fights Back With New Firefox Benchmarks

Via Tech Crunch – by Don Reisinger on September 3, 2008

The dust hasn’t even settled on Chrome’s release and already Mozilla is feeling the pressure. The company today released a series of benchmarks showing Firefox 3.1 will be faster than anything Google can muster with Chrome.

Chrome is running V8, an open source Javascript engine, which Google claims, is faster than anything currently offered on the Web. And based on our tests of Chrome, we tend to agree.

But in the upcoming release of Firefox 3.1, which should be available by the end of the year, Mozilla will employ TraceMonkey, a new engine that according to one of its coders, Brendan Eich, will easily eclipse even the fastest instance of Chrome.

To prove it, Mozilla tested Firefox running on TraceMonkey and compared it to Google’s Chrome beta using its own benchmarking solution called SunSpider. According to the company, Chrome was 28 percent slower on Windows XP and 16 percent slower on Windows Vista.

Mozilla is quick to point out that TraceMonkey has only been in development for a few months and will only get better before it’s rolled out later this year, but the company has a vested interest in seeing Firefox come out on top in its benchmark testing, so all figures should probably be questioned, to say the least. And the same goes for Google’s five benchmarks.

For now, Chrome is the fastest browser in the market and anyone using both Firefox and Chrome will find that out quickly. But once Firefox 3.1 hits the Web, we’ll find out if Chrome has what it takes to stay on top after TraceMonkey becomes Mozilla’s engine of choice.