chrome's new 'wicked fast' web
Google is at it again, this time they are focusing on their browser Chrome, adding a new feature that loads pages before they're needed:
The project is supposed to "pre-load pages in background tabs for 'wicked fast' page loads", and they have scheduled it to be fully released in the next version of Chrome (scheduled for February).
From cnet:
Quote:
The very early stages of work has begun: support for an eventual option to enable testing the feature through Chrome's "about:flags" interface.
Through a process called DNS prefetching, Chrome already tackles some potentially slow networking chores before Web pages are clicked. And Google has many other fast-Web projects under way, including a technology called False Start to speed encrypted Web pages, rewiring Web server communications with the SPDY protocol, support for the WebP image format as an alternative to JPEG, and switching to the libjpeg-turbo library for when JPEG images need to be drawn.
I am finding it fascinating how much google is focusing on faster web delivery technologies. If chrome can actually pull off loading pages that much faster, it may quickly take over in the alternative browser wars, leaving firefox and others behind. And this could mean drastic changes for us webmasters, like:
- need to optimise pages for chrome
- need to add server extensions (like mod pagespeed)
- need to change our programming tools (like replacing jped with webp images)
- most importantly, need to test our sites in yet another browser
I am going to keep following google's updates and sharing them here to keep us all informed. We all know that faster load times means lower bounce rates, so adapting to new technologies like this can actually help you make more sales!
