Looks like it will beat the Firefox to Metro with next Dev channel release..........
Google on Thursday announced it would soon release a preview of its Chrome browser capable of running in the Windows 8 Metro environment.
Chrome will be the first non-Microsoft browser to appear in Metro.The company did not set a release date for the preview, saying in a post to theChromium blog only that it would appear in "the next Chrome Dev channel release."
Google operates multiple "channels," or versions of Chrome, with escalating levels of stability and reliability. The least stable and earliest public build is dubbed "Dev;" others include "Beta" and "Stable." The last is Google's equivalent for a final, production-grade version.
When questioned later on Thursday, a Google spokeswoman declined to offer a specific date, saying, "It's hard to provide precise timing."The Dev channel of Chrome is now on version 21, which it first reached May 21. But because Google updates each version on the Dev line multiple times -- nine for Chrome 20 between April 10 and May 17, for instance -- the Metro-ized Chrome could easily appear within the next week.
The browser will run in both Windows 8's traditional x86/64 "desktop" mode -- which sports a user interface (UI) very similar to Windows 7's -- and in the tablet- and touch-centric "Metro" mode, where programs are called "apps" and run in a full-screen, or at best, split view.
Under Microsoft's rules, a browser must be selected by the user as the operating system's default browser to run in Metro.Carlos Pizano, who listed his title as "software engineer and Metro gnome," warned that the first Metro version of Chrome is unfinished.
"The initial releases of Chrome in Metro mode will include integration with the basic Windows 8 system functionality, such as charms and snap view," wrote Pizano. "Over the next few months, we'll be smoothing out the UI on Metro and improving touch support."
He did not give an estimate on when Google would add the Metro browser to the beta or stable builds.Google first acknowledged that it was working on a Windows 8-specific version of Chrome in mid-March, about a month after rival Mozilla said the same about its Firefox browser. But while Mozilla has provided several updates on its Metro progress, until now, Google has been silent on the subject.
Microsoft has allowed other browser makers to access the desktop's Win32 APIs (application programming interfaces) from within Metro, in effect leveling the playing field on Windows 8.But the Redmond, Wash. developer has drawn a line at Windows RT, the offshoot that will run on devices powered by processors from the ARM architecture. On Windows RT, which offers Metro and a very limited "classic" desktop -- where only a few applications, all Microsoft-made, are allowed -- Microsoft has refused Mozilla and Chrome access to the same APIs that Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) can call.
That set off Mozilla last month.Mozilla's general counsel and director of Firefox took to blogs in May to accuse Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior, citing the company's refusal to open up access in Windows RT to the Win32 APIs. Unable to call those APIs, the pair said, Mozilla's Firefox would not be able to compete with IE, especially on speed.
Tops on the list, said Firefox director Asa Dotzler later, was the inability to craft a JIT (Just In Time) JavaScript compiler sans those APIs."We could build a beautiful Firefox that looked really nice on Metro [on Windows RT], but Firefox would be so crippled in terms of power and speed that it'sprobably not worth it to even bother," Dotzler said.
Google said it shared Mozilla's concerns over the lack of API access in Windows RT. Yesterday, Pizano referred to the dispute."Chrome won't run in Win[dows] RT, i.e. Windows 8 on ARM processors, as Microsoft is not allowing browsers other than Internet Explorer on the platform," said Pizano.
Technically, that's not true: Others can build a Metro-only browser for Windows RT -- Microsoft has said it will not reject them outright for inclusion in the Windows Store -- but as Dotzler put it last month, "No sane user would want to surf today's Web and use today's modern websites with that kind of crippled browser."
Like Google, Mozilla has been reluctant to pin itself to a timetable for Firefox on Windows 8's Metro. Currently, its tentative schedule is to ship a "proof-of-concept" Metro version alongside Firefox 14, which is slated to launch July 17. Previously, Dotzler has said he didn't expect a Metro-enabled version of Firefox in time for the launch of Windows 8 later this year.
Users who want to try out Chrome's Metro browser can switch to the Dev channel -- and then await the update -- by downloading the appropriate operating system edition from this page.
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