I guess you’ve all seen the announcements about the new Google Chrome browser. Here are some links to the comic book and features:

The key question is: “Do we need another browser?”

Google definitely seem to have taken the architecture of the browser a stage further to the point where it is starting to get operating system type features such as multiple processes that are isolated from each other, each with its own memory, data structures and an overall process manager.

The User Interface shots I’ve seen don’t seem to be that different and to me look like Opera, but I guess what else can you make a browser look like?

Embedding a new Javascript engine (V8) is a good idea and I can see Google Apps starting to appear more on the client side - this sounds very reminiscent of Sun Microsystems in the 90’s with the Java platform?

Apart from user confusion, I also worry about developers and browser compatibility - I already have Safari, Firefox, IE, Opera installed and cross-browser testing takes a fair time. Adding Google Chrome to the mix will certainly add development time.

What do you think? Is another browser needed and what do you think about Google Chrome?