Today, Google has released a plug-in for Internet Explorer 6+ named as "Google Chrome Frame". As the name suggests, its a plug-in that brings open web technologies like Canvas tag of HTML5 and a speedy Javascript engine (V8) that comes along with Chrome to Internet Explorer. It can be considered as a rendering engine placed on top of your Internet Explorer.
How does it work?
Using the "Google Chrome Frame" plug-in calls for adding a meta tag to your pages and then detecting whether the plug-in is installed on the browser. The rest (rendering in Chrome's style) is taken care by the plug-in itself. So, this plug-in will literally be of "no use" when the page doesn't have this meta tag added.
For Web Developers
How does it work?
Using the "Google Chrome Frame" plug-in calls for adding a meta tag to your pages and then detecting whether the plug-in is installed on the browser. The rest (rendering in Chrome's style) is taken care by the plug-in itself. So, this plug-in will literally be of "no use" when the page doesn't have this meta tag added.
For Web Developers
Just need to add the meta tag to enable the plugin. Then, the existence of the plugin needs to be checked and based on which the content will be rendered by the browser. Also, web developers can get the benefits of "Web Inspector" by using this plug-in. For more, access the developer's guide.
For Users
Users will be redirected to install the plug-in when they visit the site for the first time. After installing, users can enjoy the cool features of Open web technologies and also the speedy javascript engine. The major setback here is that the users can use these features only if the pages have this plug-in enabled (i.e. meta tag added). And, obviously, its not possible for all the pages to have this plug-in enabled. That brings up the question in my mind "Is this plugin worth having when not all pages are going to have this enabled?" Or, I can call it as an open challenge to enable this plug-in without having to add the additional meta tag. Let me do some research on this and post an update here. The another major concern here is that installing the plug-in which requires admin permissions. Many users are bound to Internet Explorer in their workplace just because they don't have admin privileges to install any new browsers. This plug-in will add no value to those category of users.
How do I try it out?
I have enabled the plug-in on this page. Try to open the page from Internet Explorer. For the first time, it will direct you to install the plug-in. Once the installation is over, clear the cache and restart the browser. Now, click on "VComment" link to draw on the canvas to post your comments. VComment uses canvas of HTML5 which was not originally supported by Internet Explorer.
For Users
Users will be redirected to install the plug-in when they visit the site for the first time. After installing, users can enjoy the cool features of Open web technologies and also the speedy javascript engine. The major setback here is that the users can use these features only if the pages have this plug-in enabled (i.e. meta tag added). And, obviously, its not possible for all the pages to have this plug-in enabled. That brings up the question in my mind "Is this plugin worth having when not all pages are going to have this enabled?" Or, I can call it as an open challenge to enable this plug-in without having to add the additional meta tag. Let me do some research on this and post an update here. The another major concern here is that installing the plug-in which requires admin permissions. Many users are bound to Internet Explorer in their workplace just because they don't have admin privileges to install any new browsers. This plug-in will add no value to those category of users.
How do I try it out?
I have enabled the plug-in on this page. Try to open the page from Internet Explorer. For the first time, it will direct you to install the plug-in. Once the installation is over, clear the cache and restart the browser. Now, click on "VComment" link to draw on the canvas to post your comments. VComment uses canvas of HTML5 which was not originally supported by Internet Explorer.
P.S. : The plug-in is in its beginning stages and so use your judgment before using it for any applications in production.
--Varun
--Varun
there's a new update one 4.0.295.0 Beta ;)
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