When Google Chrome was launched, I was frankly skeptical about it. I was thinking - do we really need Chrome? And today, as I finally switch to Google Chrome as my primary browser - I can answer the question - Yes, we do need Chrome. In fact, we need all browsers to do what Chrome is doing. Constantly pushing the boundaries of Javascript execution speed, and as well as implementing new HTML5 standards rapidly!
This is also a good example of what the most coveted piece of real estate on the web - Google's own homepage can do. To be fair, Chrome does deserve all the attention and market share it's gaining right now, one can't deny that Google's heavy promotion of Chrome does have a great impact in pushing the browser to the world.
With Chrome OS just around the corner, there is no doubt that Chrome (Chrome is the OS remember?) is going to go full steam ahead. If you are still using Firefox, you should switch! Here is what Google chrome do for you:
From Google's point of view, there are several reasons for it to be spending thousands of dollar into Chrome. Although the Chromium project itself is promoted as an open source project, the big win for Google here will be pushing it's search engine as the default search engine in the Chrome browser. Google has a multi million deal with Firefox for this same purpose - and in future, with the rise in Google Chrome's popularity, we can expect Google to rely less on Firefox.
Most importantly, with the Chrome webstore just around the corner, Google with Chrome will do what Apple does with the iTunes appstore. Making it dead easy for developer to push Chrome webapps would make make more developers to start looking at the web as the proper cross platform medium to develop. Google will take its 30% share - and this is a potential cash cow in the making!
I am all excited on what Chrome will do to the web, and if you aren't already using it, you should really switch to it.