Sony To Put Chrome On Laptops 278
consonant writes "FT is reporting that Google has reached a deal with Sony to ship Chrome on the Vaio line of PCs. Google confirmed that Sony PCs carrying Chrome had started to go on sale and said it was in talks for similar deals with other computer makers. It said the arrangement was 'experimental' and part of wider efforts to boost distribution, including a deal to make Chrome available to internet users who download the RealPlayer software and the company's first use of television advertising. While mainstream media coverage and financial details were very sparse, El Reg terms it a 'Microsoft-snubbing deal.'
Google also mentioned it was pushing for similar deals with other vendors. Could this spell the beginning of the end for IE?"
Old news (Score:5, Interesting)
I purchased a Viao a few months back and was surprised to see Chrome appear on the desktop instead of IE. If Google wants to buy browser market share more power to them. I had not tried Chrome before and I'm glad I have, its a great browser.
Head asplodes (Score:3, Interesting)
What happens when Good [wikipedia.org] and evil [wikipedia.org] combine? And why would anyone buy a computer of all things from a company that has placed rootkits on their paying customers' gear?
This doesn't make me think more highly of Sony, it tarnishes Google in my view.
Re:Chrome OS? (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't you think the confusing naming is deliberate?
Long-term strategy must be to build a brand. A few years down the line:
"I use Chrome to surf the internet" says person in electronics store. "Oh, you'll love this phone/pc/tv/netbook/washing machine, then... it has Chrome OS".
"I'll take that one, the Chrome thing."
Result: Google is King.
RS
PC Decrapifierr (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Typical OEM Software Deal (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, you're right you don't have to use the software. You do have to remove it and/or deal with any registry and file associations and redirects setup by the OEM. There is a decent chance you will have it go through first run before going "WTF" and removing it. OEM software installs always seem to leave a bunch of junk in the registry and in userland directories. I would rather they didn't leave a bunch of cruft laying about and screw with file associations that's all.
Re:Uh oh (Score:1, Interesting)
It's the standards-breaking. MS has a rock-solid track record of not giving a care about web standards, making a browser that winds up being incompatible with many webpages and, in turn, webpages that are incompatible with any other browser. We're not very keen on MS telling us what to do and hiding the way they do it so that we all need to buy their faulty operating system to run their faulty web browser to view websites, and then get hold of their "standards" documents to make websites that, in the end, they would ultimately control the fate of at the whim of some "standards" change.
Google, on the other hand, has a pretty solid track record of at least giving a damn about standards (cue spazzes pointing to minor technicalities; at least they TRY). If Chrome gets to be more popular, this is all in all Good(tm); a page written for Chrome will most likely work on Firefox, or Safari, or Opera, or whatever besides IE. In turn, Google can't make standards changes on a whim without breaking a lot of stuff, as their browser would be the broken one and the others would fill in the gap quickly.
Yes, I know you have the entire primitive "if it's bigger than me it must be a predator and thus will eat me" mentality, but Google has had a far, far better reputation for actually advancing technology than Microsoft has had. Hence why we have more faith in them.
Re:Or? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Yay, more Riders... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Will it make a dent? (Score:3, Interesting)
Perhaps, but I'm pretty sure Apple + Sony will make a bigger dent than Apple alone.
Its not like Apple is going to stop shipping Safari and start bundling IE when Sony starts bundling Chrome.