One big hit against Google’s Chrome browser when it debuted was its lack of extensions.
ZDNet’s Larry Dignan says the problem is that different people want different extensions, but any extensions at all tend to bog down the browser. “As a general rule, I want as few extensions as possible. It’s just cleaner,” he says.
Google seems to get it. In its Chromium Developer Document on Extensions, the company outlines the goals of Chrome’s extension system, focusing on providing key new capabilities without introducing new problems. For example, it says the extension system should “Webby,” or as easy to use and develop as a Web page. Extensions should also use a common framework, sharing “infrastructure like autoupdate, packaging and security.” They should be stable, secure and open, and should be as future-proof as possible, so Google won’t “need to disable deployed extensions when we release new versions of Chromium.”
Initial extensions the Chromium team envisions include bookmarking, Skype, RealPlayer and Autolink, as well as Adblock, Flashblock, Privacy control and Parental Control–main browser features that most consumers won’t do without. And setting out goals like this is a good first step. It shows that Google is hoping to avoid the problems experienced by Firefox and IE, as extensions mushroomed and performance problems followed. So Google’s focus is in the right place. Now we just need to see if its execution is as careful as its goal-setting.
