OStatic

Late last week, Sam took a close look at the rapidly changing browser landscape. In one of the posts linked therein, Keir Thomas speculates that Firefox may well have just given up the ghost, what with an alpha version of Chrome now being available for Linux (or, at the very least, Ubuntu).

I don't think it is, nor is it going to be, quite that easy. Firefox isn't without issue -- or momentum. And Chrome for Linux? In all reality, it doesn't exist, yet. Chrome may have a number of advantages over other browsers, including Firefox, on other platforms. But if it's still too early to call this fight on Windows, declaring the superior browser on Linux is pretty much a coin toss.

Google is out with a beta version of the Chrome browser which adds quite a few new features. If you recall, Chrome officially came out of beta in December, but this post confirms that developers have been doing a lot of work to improve it. Google claims its 25 percent faster on V8 benchmark tests and 35 percent faster on Sunspider, so if you are looking for improved JavaScript speed, you may want to get the new beta. Here is more on the new features.

According to Mike Arrington at TechCrunch, several sources say that the Mozilla-based social browser, Flock, will soon shed its Mozilla code base and start using Google's Chrome framework for future releases.

Flock's CEO, Shawn Hardin, responded to Arrington's post, saying that the browser's upcoming 2.1 release is being developed, and will be released with, its traditional Mozilla underpinnings. Hardin does not explicitly say that Flock will move to Chrome, only that the browser space has been heating up rapidly in the last few months, and that the Flock development team will continue to make architectural decisions that balance what's best for our users and what's best for Flock as a business.