Yes there will be a Google branded browser, but that will not be the total package.

I think that the Google browser is only a small component of a much larger application. Users of the new "web explorer" won't just browse the web - they will be able to interact with it.

Further, all of your favorite web apps (chat, file sharing, email, web browsing) will be integrated into 1 application that will be completely customizable.

You see, the programmers they hired not only have experience in browser development, but are also experienced in Java - a popular language for building platform independent applications, and programmers from Microsoft who were key in developing their next generation graphics engine for the as-yet-to-be-released Longhorn, as well as a slew of Microsoft XML developers..

I think what Google is going to do is develop an ever expanding framework that can help move you from the desktop to the web.

This new application will be built on a browser framework (it is rumored that Google has been secretly working on fixing some holes in Mozilla's Firefox browser) but will have the ability to "plug in" new applications as they become available. They will use a Mozilla product because it is a complete framework for building cross-platform applications. A big part of Mozilla is made with the same technology you can use in web applications.

I also think that this system will likely be built using XML, and XML supported languages. XUL (an XML-based User interface Language) for example can help make XML more user friendly by building GUI-like applications from XML.

Combine that with the power of Java, and you have a platform independent architecture with virtually no limits. You have basically moved your desktop to the web, or at least move the web a little closer to your desktop.

If you go to your internet browser homepage - what does it look like? For most people it is probably one of the bigger portals such as Yahoo! or MSN or some other branded portal that can be "customized" to suit your needs. Customization, however, is limited to what the portal allows you to do. You can only view approved content, and can only use approved colors. If an information source isn't available on their list, then you probably can't see it on your homepage.

With the Google desktop you will be able to show whatever content you want (via XML syndicated content - most popular sites now use XML to syndicate their content) as well as other non-XML content.

I say other non-XML content, because Google is already able to serve content through the web via XML. After all, that's how they serve results to the Google API. But what if they were to expand that? What if you could have Google News Alerts sent to your desktop via XML? OR some non-syndicated news or information site? Do you like browsing Amazon or Ebay but don't like the way they display the content? With a XUL application you can easily change the way you see the data. Take a look at this site that uses XUL to redisplay Amazon data. This is just a sample of the power of what Google is probably building.

They could easily reformat any web content into XML to redisplay it hundreds of different ways. Talk about customizing the web.

Remember when I mentioned that email, chat and file sharing would also be integrated? That would be simple. Gmail would be easy, and file sharing and chat are built into Picasa, so porting them to the web wouldn't be too difficult either. Imagine - an XML feed of your email - you wouldn't even have to launch the email application - just look at the feed and see if there's anything new.

Of course there are a host of other features - stock tickers, road reports, weather forecasts, entertainment news. Virtually any content which could be streamed to you via XML would be available on your desktop framework.

Overall, I think what we will see will be a revolution in how you use your computer to interact with the web. The lines between the desktop and the web will become blurry over time. And of course they are doing this years before Microsoft releases Longhorn (which is supposed to have many of these features built into it). Just imagine what they would do next?

Can you say office document processing?

Rob Sullivan
Production Manager
Enquiro.com

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