A number of modern Web features cannot be used pervasively on the Internet because Microsoft's dominant browser, Internet Explorer, often fails to support current and emerging standards. Google has a plan to drag IE into the world of modern browsing by building a plugin that will allow it to use Chrome's HTML renderer and high-performance JavaScript engine.
Microsoft has recently taken promising steps forward by engaging with the standards community and adding much-needed features in Internet Explorer 8. Although this demonstrates a willingness to improve, it doesn't change the fact that Microsoft is still lagging far behind other browser vendors. Perhaps more troubling than the deficiencies of IE8 is the tragic longevity of IE6, which was released in 2001 and is long overdue for retirement. Some companies unfortunately cannot give it up, either, because they depend on proprietary Web software that only supports legacy versions of IE.
Google hopes that delivering Chrome's rendering engine in an IE plugin will provide a pragmatic compromise for users who can't upgrade. Web developers will be able to use an X-UA-Compatible meta tag to specify that their page should be displayed with the Chrome renderer plugin instead of using Internet Explorer's Trident engine. This approach will ensure that the Chrome engine is only used when it is supposed to and that it won't disrupt the browser's handling of legacy Web applications that require IE6 compatibility.
Installing a plugin is arguably less disruptive to users than migrating them to a different browser. It is unclear, however, if IT departments that refuse to upgrade their users to a better browser are going to be comfortable deploying new plugins. I discussed this issue with Google software engineer Alex Russel and group product manager Mike Smith who cited the ubiquity of Flash as an example of how the plugin strategy could have the potential to move the Web forward.
We asked Google if it will be providing packages and tools to make it easier for IT departments to deploy the plugin. It's still much too early for that, Google explained, but it's something that Google might explore when the project matures. The search giant will, however, provide scripts and other mechanisms that Web developers can integrate into their pages to encourage Internet Explorer users to install the plugin.
Google is opening the source code now to get feedback and assistance with testing. The plugin will include Google's speedy V8 JavaScript engine, support for Canvas, SVG, and all of the other features that users enjoy today in Chrome. That also includes the next-generation CSS rendering features of WebKit such as rounded corners. The pages will look just like they would if they were rendered in Chrome.
Mozilla has previously experimented with similar initiatives, but none that match this scope. Mozilla's Screaming Monkey project, for example, aims to make Mozilla's JavaScript engine accessible through IE as a plugin. Mozilla also has an experimental prototype that provides the Canvas element as a plugin.
Google is going much further by providing the entire renderer. If the plugin is adopted by a sufficiently broad number of users, then Web developers will never again have to contend with IE's limitations. It could also open the door for adoption of HTML 5 and other important emerging standards.
Further Reading
- Chromium blog: Introducing Google Chrome Frame
reader comments
67