[ Thanks to james
Maguire for this link. ]
“So far, Chrome includes controls to turn Wifi and
Ethernet connections on and off, but no other system settings or
customization options, to say nothing of desktop utilities of the
sort found in GNOME’s applets or KDE’s widgets. No doubt some of
these features will find their way into Chrome before the final
release, but, for now, these lacks add to the impression that using
Chrome means giving up much of the control that I’m accustomed to
having over my computer interface. While Chrome is easy enough to
use, it seems to insist on users doing things its way.“This impression is heightened by the omnipresence of Google
applications. You can, of course, bookmark Thinkfree, Zoho and use
them instead of Google Docs, or Flickr instead of PicasaWeb, but,
currently, at least, Chrome steers you towards using Google’s
applications.“In fact, it was only while using Chrome that I appreciated how
integrated an approach to computing it represents. If it succeeds,
Chrome will dominate all aspects of users’ computing in a way that
no other company except Microsoft has ever done. Admittedly, while
Google has a mixed reputation in open source, it still has a better
reputation than Microsoft, but I suspect that this control of user
experience will produce twinges of uneasiness in open source
circles. Even if Chrome is released as free software, the control
of computing by a single corporation, no matter how enlightened,
just doesn’t sit well.”