With over 8 inches of rain in Michigan this weekend I had plenty of time to take the load off and relax. I started by checking out the new browser that Google launched last week, Chrome. Two points come quickly to mind. First, the look and feel are great and not just because it is nice to look at. After all it is a tool. No, the look and feel are great because they are far less obtrusive than that of any other browser.

Chrome enables you to devote more of your screen to what you are doing, which is really helpful, especially when you are working on an application like NetSuite. With IE and even Firefox, the browser is a screen hog, forcing you to scroll in order to reach important application buttons, for example. Not so with Chrome. You can view the entire report page and also the parameter drop downs in the footer and the Refresh and Customize buttons. NetSuite sits inside Chrome and looks completely uncluttered. The fact that Chrome's tabs are above the Locator bar explains this clean look.

Second, Chrome loads NetSuite really fast. This gives the lie to the idea that NetSuite, or software as a service in general, doesn't have the firepower in the data center to deliver top notch user speeds. It does and it does. I did a few simple tests on our NetSuite beta account and found Chrome took 25% of the time to load as IE. I wonder if Seinfeld can make Gates shake his rear end over that? (By the way are those the most bizarre commercials ever made, or what?)

So Chrome was a definite hit and I am moving toward adopting it as the main browser for the business. Of course, it's still in beta, but I think that with adoption taking off like crazy it will not be long before it moves to full release and NetSuite clears it as a fully supported browser. Currently, NetSuite encourages users to try it but does make a statement about beta and the possibility of encountering errors.

On to NetSuite 2008 Release 2. First, I think the decision to limit the NetSuite updates to two major updates a year is a great idea. My years of experience with Oracle proved this approach. First there was haphazard updates of products, then they tried to package updates into large patches released when ready, and finally they adopted a plan where functionality was released on a regular basis and the product started to settle down and become much more stable. Keep in mind, we not only use NetSuite to run our business, but we also implement it for a living. So seeing it settle into a more stable pattern of innovation is an excellent development that we will all come to cheer.

We tested several important new peices of functionality, including Gross Profit and the new service industry release features. Gross profits performed as expected and looks sleek. We tested it under several different setup scenarios, including FIFO and Average Costing and saw no issues. We also tested it with promotions and discounts and again it performed as expected.

The new service industry functions are numerous and deep. This is an area where NetSuite needed some additional functionality and they delivered. From better and more streamlined project setup to Gannt chart views and more project billing flexibility, this release is a leap forward. As I wrote here and here, it will be interesting to see how NetSuite incorporates OpenAir Professional Services Automation software, their recent acquisition, into the core product. But my gut tells me that with release 2 they are laying the foundation.

Overall my impression on this rainy weekend was pretty good. I like the fact that NetSuite and Google have been working together on this, evidenced by the fact that NetSuite was ready for the Google announcement and had already been working on making the applications run on the new browser. My experience made me why there was so much head shaking by the tech intelligence group this past week.

Many of them shook their head in wonder as to why we would need another browser. After all we have at least 4 of them now. Others started to see crimes where none have been committed, asking excitedly if this was another Google plan to take over Microsoft planet and then the universe. My take was more pedestrian, I guess. I think Google understands that we have been using the Internet with a tool written by people who frankly could care less about the Internet. Microsoft's bread and butter is and always has been the desktop. Why they ever developed a browser is hard to understand. Google is rolling out web applications pretty quickly now, and there is simply no reason to keep waiting for MS to improve IE. It's not going to happen.

While your over at google signing up for an email account and setting up Chrome, check out their spreadsheet and document apps. You'll be surprised.

You can download Google Chrome from your Google Account. Sign up here: http://www.google.com. If your interested in purchasing NetSuite you can contact your truly in the upper left panel.