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Google x86 Native Browser Client Maybe Not So Crazy After All

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the because-you-can dept.

GMGruman writes "Google's experimental technology to run native x86 binaries in the browser shows lots of potential, writes Neil McAllister. He's previously said it was a crazy idea, but a new version of Native Client (NaCl) caused McAllister to take a fresh look, which has led him to conclude the technology is crazy like a fox. McAllister explains what NaCl is useful for, how to use it, and why it's not a Java or a Flash or a JavaScript replacement, but something else."

6 of 332 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not Java, more like Active X by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now all they need to do is give it full access to the Windows Registry and we'll be right back to where we started.

  2. this is a terrible idea by digitalsushi · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am qualified to comment because I have skimmed the article summary. Furthermore, I know perfectly well that any time a browser allows for new features, it's a way to get hacked by eastern bloc countries. Finally, I can't remember why I was angry in the first place, but I can guarantee you that if whatever it was is also the reason the honeybees have been dying off. I am getting so sick of this stuff!

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    slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
  3. ActiveX revisited? by H0p313ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So a proprietary, but open SDK to run native binaries on one vendors browser. What could possibly go wrong?

    I hope Google put a heck of a lot more effort into security/sandbox issues than Microsoft did or I'm going to have to start telling people to never install Chrome. ActiveX was the best attack vector for Windows for the longest time, and as far as I know it's still pretty effective against the great unwashed who will click anything to make a dialog go away.

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    XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
  4. Re:Why???? by Ancantus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you havn't noticed, one of Google's intents is to make the browser you go-to place for all your needs (kinda makes sense with their business plan). And honestly i think that it is a worthy goal. This way people can make cross-platform applications and a way to distribute them all on one platform.

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    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. -- Isaac Asimov
  5. I really wish... by Spazmania · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I really wish folks wouldn't intermix this crap with a web browser. I'm all for having some kind of a cloud browser for accessing Internet-based applications with the client running java or nacl or whatever. But when I'm surfing the web looking at untrusted sites, I don't want ANYTHING running browser-side. Not even javascript.

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    Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
  6. Re:NaCl? by Tr3vin · · Score: 5, Informative

    While I appreciate the funny mod, it wasn't meant as a joke. http://code.google.com/chrome/nativeclient/docs/reference/pepperc/index.html