Google plugs Chrome directly into Internet Explorer

Google has released an open source plug-in that unlocks the capability of HTML5 and other web technologies in Internet Explorer (IE). In a move that could be construed as another volley in the war against IE6 – an old nag of a web browser that Microsoft seems reluctant to “put out to pasture” – the Google Chrome Frame integrates with any IE version from 6 upwards.

Numerous web users run IE, and many still operate the ancient IE6. The development required for adding IE6 compatibility to websites is vastly different to most modern browsers, and this can add weeks to the process.

Google has recognised the limitations and hassles this presents developers, in terms of development cycles and for using new HTML5 and Java technologies. They have decided to address the issue head on.

The Google Chrome Frame plug-in is installed on the client machine, and detects a simple HTML tag, at which point it switches to Google Chrome’s WebKit-based rendering engine. Details can be found on the Chromium blog.

So Google has ingeniously injected some of the Chrome magic into the IE experience, which may just bring a few more converts to the Google-side.