AfterDawn: News

Google release 'Chrome Frame' plug-in for IE

Google has announced the release of Google Chrome Frame, a plug-in for Internet Explorer that will bring "HTML5 and other open web technologies" to the browser.

Says Google:



"We're building Google Chrome Frame to help web developers deliver faster, richer applications like Google Wave. Recent JavaScript performance improvements and the emergence of HTML5 have enabled web applications to do things that could previously only be done by desktop software. One challenge developers face in using these new technologies is that they are not yet supported by Internet Explorer. Developers can't afford to ignore IE — most people use some version of IE — so they end up spending lots of time implementing work-arounds or limiting the functionality of their apps.

With Google Chrome Frame, developers can now take advantage of the latest open web technologies, even in Internet Explorer. From a faster Javascript engine, to support for current web technologies like HTML5's offline capabilities and < canvas >, to modern CSS/Layout handling, Google Chrome Frame enables these features within IE with no additional coding or testing for different browser versions.

To start using Google Chrome Frame, all developers need to do is to add a single tag:

< meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="chrome=1" >

When Google Chrome Frame detects this tag it switches automatically to using Google Chrome's speedy WebKit-based rendering engine. It's that easy. For users, installing Google Chrome Frame will allow them to seamlessly enjoy modern web apps at blazing speeds, through the familiar interface of the version of IE that they are currently using.

We believe that Google Chrome Frame makes life easier for web developers as well as users. While this is still an early version intended for developers, our team invites you to try out this for your site. You can start by reading our documentation. Please share your feedback in our discussion group and file any bugs you find through the Chromium issue tracker."



And a video:


Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2009 12:45

• Previous article

• EB Games will not stock PSP Go either, in Australia

• Next article

• iPhone headed to South Korea

• 4 comments

• atomicxl

  If they don't fix the issues with animated gifs and certain type of textboxes, this will eliminate my use of Chrome and i'll end up just going back to IE.

  23.9.2009 13:11 #1

• Imapi

  I would better use Firefox, its faster and more secure ;)

  23.9.2009 13:43 #2

• stuntman_

  lol Microsoft has a crap browser so Google makes it better for them?

  23.9.2009 13:54 #3

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by Imapi: I would better use Firefox, its faster and more secure ;)This wasn't built for that reason. This plug-in allows those that are stuck on IE, usually work computers were the IT department won't upgrade their browser at all, to render a page using a standards-compliant engine, in this case the one Chrome is built on, that would normally not work in IE.
  
  By installing this plug-in IE6-8 can render pages in a standards-compliant way while still supporting the IE-only sites/applications that cause corporations to refuse to upgrade their machines to a better browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
  
  My only fear is that this is already dead in the water. I'm not sure how many corporations would want to install a plug-in, even though it's built by Google, on their work machines that could contain sensitive data.
  
  I'm hoping Google will create some sort of a campaign towards corporations to get them to install this plug-in. I'll gladly add a single line of code to my website to give IE users a better experience.

  23.9.2009 17:18 #4