Google Chrome as default browser for Sony Vaio Notebooks

The browser wars took a turn, with reports that Google has inked a deal with Sony to pre-install the Chrome web browser on new VAIO computers. This marks the first deal that Google has signed with a hardware vendor to get Chrome involved in consumers’ OOBE (out of box experience).

Google has come to terms with the fact that mainstream consumers, not those who follow the tech world, end up using whatever browser is installed on the new computer they take home.

This deal with Sony means Google has the chance to become the browser “that is on the computer.” It is a win for Google — and most likely not the last deal it makes with OEMs.

Via: jkOnTheRun.

That is good news for the Chrome fan-base, however not really for those who don’t like the idea of a browser sending everything you do to Google.  Depending on the configuration, each time you put something in the address line this information is sent to Google, supposedly to provide suggestions, and we all know that a ton of people just open the program and start browsing away.

It kind of surprises me as Mozilla Firefox is still a big contender in the browser wars, and has been around for a while longer in the open source market.

The real test will be for those who haven’t used anything other than Internet Explorer, suddenly being faced with an unknown interface will probably leave them blinking in despair until they either get the hang of it or ask somebody to install a different browser.