Chrome (the new Google web browser): Meh. Too stripped down, no extensions, mixed plugin support (no Google Earth plugin?!). Yes, Javascript-heavy pages are faster, but the next version of Firefox (3.1) should be comparable. Until the feature-set reaches critical mass, I’ll stick with Firefox; yeah, sometimes it hogs resources, but less with 3.0 than it did with 2.0.
Photosynth (Microsoft’s tool for assembling photographs into a virtual 3-D space): Meh. If it could create a true virtual 3-D space, that would be one thing. But for now, it’s too herky-jerky, and the interface sucks. The requirement that everything Photosynth must be hosted at Microsoft also bugs me. A good first step, but it needs to advance a lot more for me to use it.
Addendum (12/24/08): Photosynth has been improved somewhat, so I’ll back off that “Meh” review a bit.
Is the google chrome an Open Source Software? They say it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GLrAAChKRQ
But in the license says:
“10.2 You may not (and you may not permit anyone else to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, decompile or otherwise attempt to extract the source code of the Software or any part thereof, unless this is expressly permitted or required by law, or unless you have been specifically told that you may do so by Google, in writing.”
Is that the freedom? I don’t think so.
The point is, they “copieed” the license from their other products, resulting in a mashup not really suitable for a browser… Look at point 11.x, says something about “a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.” So, if I submit this with Chrome, it will become property of Google Inc.
They will be revising the liccense soon, english version should be updated now.
The “any Content which you submit, post or display” also affects anything which you VIEW, not merely post. Is it a good sign that Google doesn’t have a bevy of lawyers reading all their legal stuff?