Google seeks faster Web

Google has set a battle cry for the Internet: "Let's make the Web faster."

In a campaign launched late Tuesday afternoon, the company stressed the need for a cooperative effort to improve Web performance in areas such as protocols.

[ Google's effort could be boosted by protocols like the forthcoming HTML 5. ]

"We are excited to discuss what we've learned about Web performance with the Internet community, said Urs Hoelzle, Google senior vice president of operations, and Bill Coughran, senior vice president of engineering, in a blog post. "However, to optimize the speed of Web applications and make browsing the Web as fast as turning the pages of a magazine, we need to work together as a community to tackle some larger challenges that keep the Web slow and prevent it from delivering its full potential."

As part of the effort, Google is offering a Web site, code.google.com/speed, for Web developers that offers tutorials, tips, and performance tools.

"I think speed really does matter," said Google Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra in a video accompanying the campaign rollout. "And I think users are able to discern even very small differences in latency and speed."

The industry is just at the beginning of how fast the Web could be, he said. Such activities as watching high-definition movies, uploading pictures, and running complex JavaScript applications should be instantaneous, said Gundotra.

Google said it needs to work with others to move the Inernet forward. Efforts will involve collaborating with developers, ISPs and standards bodies and could involve developing enhancements or alternatives to TCP/IP and HTTP.

One area of particular focus is updating of protocols.

"Many protocols that power the Internet and the Web were developed when broadband and rich interactive Web apps were in their infancy. Networks have become much faster in the past 20 years, and by collaborating to update protocols such as HTML and TCP/IP, we can create a better Web experience for everyone," the Google officials said.

One example of a community effort cited by Google is development of the HTML 5 protocol, featuring AppCache for writing JavaScript-heavy Web applications to run instantly. Browser developers and communities need to keep focusing on JavaScript performance improvements, Google said.

New tools, such as Yahoo YSlow and Google Page Speed, are needed for Web developers to build faster, more responsive Web applications, according to Google. Company officials also cited low broadband penetration as an issue to be addressed by the industry.

Google's faster Web effort is "definitely worth it," said analyst Michael Cote of RedMonk. "It's a good foil to folks like Microsoft and Adobe who are going after the same set of people with their RIA (rich Internet applications) and HTML/AJAX platforms."

"Google has the luxury with their crazy advertising revenue to subsidize non-revenue-producing efforts like this well, which ultimately helps drive developers toward 'The Google Stack,' " Cote said.

cost of windows seven=$120

Microsoft's pricing of Windows 7 threatens to derail its efforts to move users off the aging Windows XP and make them forget the bad taste of Vista, a retail research analyst said today.

"I'm very disappointed in the upgrade pricing," said Stephen Baker, an analyst with the NPD Group. "I would have much rather seen Microsoft come out aggressive, and wipe the world clean of all the Vista problems."

Earlier today, Microsoft unveiled list prices for Windows 7, which put the lowest-priced upgrade -- an edition of Windows 7 Home Premium -- at $119.99, a price cut of less than 8% from Vista's comparable version.

"That $120 is a pretty big nut, especially when you can buy a new PC for around $300," said Baker, who's dubious about Microsoft's upgrade pricing.

Earlier on Thursday, Baker took Microsoft to task over pricing in a post to the NPD company blog, calling $120 "way too much for the software" and adding that Microsoft could hamper migration to the new OS. "It is in Microsoft's best interests to erase all vestiges of Vista from consumers' homes, and by making the upgrade expensive, and a bit painful, Microsoft is creating a large disincentive for consumers to move to a far superior platform with a better user experience," Baker said.

He also slammed Microsoft for not providing a multi-license offer for upgrading all of a family's PCs. "In a world, at least in the U.S., where most homes are moving into a multiple PC environment, it would enhance the consumer home experience if they could upgrade all their home PCs at a single low price with a single boxed purchase," Baker said.

Baker compared Microsoft's pricing and lack of a "family pack" to Apple's aggressive moves at the beginning of the month when it announced that Mac OS X 10.6, the performance and stability upgrade known as "Snow Leopard," would be priced at just $29 for a single-user license, $49 for a five-license pack. Apple traditionally charges $129 for an operating system upgrade.

"Apple's Snow Leopard pricing model is much more appropriate to driving adoption and raising customer satisfaction levels," argued Baker. "This is a direction I would have much preferred to see Microsoft head."

Microsoft's response, when asked if it was planning a family-pack for Windows 7, was noncommittal. "We expect to have other great offers in the future as we lead up to and beyond general availability," a spokeswoman said via instant messaging. "[But] we have nothing to announce at this time."

On the bright side, said Baker, Microsoft has so far managed the rollout of Windows 7 "pretty darn well," especially when compared to the disaster of Vista, which launched in January 2007, one of the worst-possible months to introduce an operating system at retail.