Beta-testing of the Windows version of Google’s new open-source browser Chrome starts at 2:00 EST this afternoon (Sept. 2nd).  They even wrote a comic book about it.  While I had been planning to go get that and play with it as soon as possible, on reflection maybe It Ain’t Broken…  I mean, I just upgraded to Firefox 3 last week – how compelling can a new browser be?

Supposedly Chrome is optimized for video, web apps, and security - and the java script engine is faster.  However, the Firefox 3 upgrade is already mostly about security - and since Google Chrome uses several unnamed Mozilla components (Firefox being open source too), how much new can there be in terms of security?  And in terms of performance, client-side browser processes such as AJAX and java script, etc. are *not* the bottleneck – it’s the internet connection.

So whether or not to be on the bleeding edge…  maybe not.  I expect a flood of internet reviews of Chrome starting in just a few hours, I’ll read those - what I’ll be looking for is whether Chrome features gmail/Google search/Google Apps optimizations – because I think Chrome is at least as much as improving the Google apps/cloud computing experience as it it is about faster/safer web browsing.

If Chrome turns out to be not only a browser but also a fatter client for a richer Google Apps experieince, now that could be very interesting.