Chrome is the brand new web browser created by Google, just released today. Looks like it incorporates a number of the best features of Firefox and Safari.  However, in this post, I just want to address one feature, One Box for Everything.

Search and direct navigation have always been done in different places. Used to be, you went to a search engine’s home page to use a search box.

Later, browsers began building in search boxes into their interfaces.

With Chrome, there is a single field that can be used to enter URLs directly, or to enter search terms.  Google suggests results for both types of input.


Collocating search and direct navigation will get more people using search than ever. Dollars to donuts, this is the new standard. Naturally, Google is Chrome’s default search engine. This means more users, more loyalty to the brand, and more ads served.

I’m heading home to install chrome on my home computer, on XP running on VMware Fusion. But I probably won’t use chrome instead of Firefox until Google releases a version for the Apple Operating System. The frustrating decision by Google to start with a Windows only release makes a lot of sense. They’re trying to take market share from Internet Explorer, which is no longer supported for the Apple OS. Plus, Google knows that the fanboy community is working itself into a frenzy in anticipation of their shiny new product. So coy.