Chrome Frame is Google's stealth attack on Microsoft Internet Explorer

Google’s internet-browser war against Microsoft has escalated after the search engine giant unveiled Chrome Frame, a new plug-in that essentially changes Internet Explorer into Chrome.

The upgrade, called Google Chrome Frame, allows IE users to access the capabilities and higher speeds of Chrome. The release was announced on Google’s Chromium Blog on Tuesday.

Google’s move seems to be in response to Microsoft’s refusal to end support for Internet Explorer 6, which has forced developers to make their web pages accessible using the outdated software. Using Chrome Frame renders web pages in Chrome’s WebKit engine and allows more advanced HTML5 functions than IE on its own.

The idea is to get users who are comfortable with IE’s interface using the more advanced software, letting them access more web applications and experience faster load times.

Google’s announcement read: "Recent JavaScript performance improvements and the emergence of HTML5 have enabled web applications to do things that could previously only be done by desktop software.

"One challenge developers face in using these new technologies is that they are not yet supported by Internet Explorer. Developers can't afford to ignore IE ... so they end up spending lots of time implementing work-arounds or limiting the functionality of their apps.

"With Google Chrome Frame, developers can now take advantage of the latest open web technologies, even in Internet Explorer."

Chrome Frame is open source, and can be installed on Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8. via