Sony's breaking with tradition and shipping Vaio PCs with Google's Chrome Web browser instead of the usual Internet Explorer.
That makes Sony the first computer manufacturer to strike a browser deal with Google, which is also trying to secure agreements with other vendors. As a test, Sony had been installing Chrome in its North American PCs since May, but that test phase is coming to an end, PC World reports.
Getting PC vendors on board seems like a crucial move for Chrome, which has pretty much floundered on its own. With just 2.84 percent of the market, according to Net Applications, Chrome sits near the bottom of the browser heap. Opera's in last with a 2.04 percent share and Safari has a 4.07 percent stake. Internet Explorer still reigns with 66.97 percent, and Firefox is in distant second with 22.98 percent.
Since I primarily use a netbook for work, Chrome's been growing on me since I switched from Firefox a few months back. I've noticed that it sucks away less memory, which is ideal for my relatively slow computer. The unified search and address bar took some getting used to, but now I generally prefer it over the dedicated search field of other browsers.
But given that Chrome is a fairly light browser that's fantastic for netbooks, it's sort of an odd match for Sony, who's basically entering the netbook game out of obligation. I'd think the company would want to pack its Vaio PCs with Firefox, because it's more robust and allows for powerful plug-ins. It's not clear from the reports what Sony is getting by sticking with Google.
Still, you've got to be happy that someone's moving away from including a crusty old version of Internet Explorer.
