Google plug-in lets web apps harness CPU power
Published: 09 Dec 2008 12:28 GMT
In recent years, rumours have abounded of a Google operating system, perhaps based on the Ubuntu version of Linux widely used within the company, but, on Monday, the search giant revealed an open-source project that provides a different answer to the same problem: Native Client.
Some have been sceptical about Google releasing an operating system of its own, arguing that the company has a predominantly web-based view of the world. But web apps have limits — the impressive gains of Google Docs notwithstanding — and Native Client is geared to address those.
"At Google we're always trying to make the web a better platform. That's why we're working on Native Client, a technology that aims to give web developers access to the full power of the client's CPU, while maintaining the browser neutrality, OS portability and safety that people expect from web applications," said Brad Chen of Google's Native Client team in a blog posting.
Google has a three-pronged mission: search, ads and apps. The company does well in terms of the first two, but web-based apps remain rough for most users. Native Client could change that, if Google develops the project to maturity, convinces people to install it and convinces programmers to write for it.
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The software plug-in works in conjunction with various web browsers but lets web-based apps take advantage of a computer's significant processing horsepower. That puts Native Client in a similar camp as Sun's Java, Microsoft's Silverlight, and Adobe's Flash, which, like Native Client, include a 'runtime' foundation for running the software.
Although Native Client is just a research project at this stage, the move could have powerful long-term consequences for the battle to create the most compelling foundation for web-based apps. The technology philosophically meshes with Adobe's hybrid philosophy of running applications both on servers and PCs.
So far, Native Client works on Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome on any modern system with an x86 processor running Windows, Mac OS X or Linux, Google said.
Credit: Google's answer to Java, Flash, Windows: Native Client from CNET News
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