Spent some time today playing with the new Google chrome web browser. The minimalist look and tab controls are very elegant and I can clearly see this as an excellent browser for mobile devices. Google Engineers have gone for an “invisible look” to the browser that belies its real strength – as an operating system or platform for next-gen web applications. I also like how they have eliminated all those annoying tool-bars.

Back in the  day, I used to think we’d be moving more and more to a world without browsers; rich interfaces and ubiquitous connectivity – think Google Earth. Java would create this platform independence that would render browsers unnecessary. It seems once again that I am 100% wrong as the browser becomes the launch-pad for all applications. This will only lead to the second browser war with new browser platforms appearing. The reason for this is that you probably interact with most of your applications through a browser already.These interfaces will only improve with Rich Internet Application (RIA) interfaces like Flash getting better all the time and the Canvas html element taking told.

So I have seen the future and it may or may not be Google Chrome. (It’s sometimes hard to tell with Google what will be a hit and what will miss – think Google Talk.) Whether Google Chrome wins or not, watch the browser space for some exciting new software applications and a even more stressed out Microsoft.

PS But whats this – no Mac support?