While We Wait For Chrome For Mac, Mozilla's Camino Gets An Update
While Mac users grow impatient for Google's Chrome browser to come to the platform, there's a small bit of good news today: A new beta version of the excellent Camino browser. — Camino is a browser built by Mozilla specifically for the Mac.
Context & Ripple Effects
Camino, Mozilla's Gecko-based browser built natively for the Mac rather than ported across platforms, had been quiet since Camino 1.5 shipped in June 2007. A fresh beta landing in September 2009 matters mostly because of what is missing: Google's Chrome, launched for Windows the year before, still has no Mac build, leaving Mac users who want a non-Apple engine waiting.
First-order effects
- Mac users get an updated native-browser choice today, with Camino's beta filling a gap left open by Chrome's continued absence from the platform.
- Mozilla gains a visible presence on the Mac at precisely the moment its Windows-grade competitor cannot follow, making Camino the default Gecko alternative to Safari for users unwilling to switch engines.
Second-order effects
- As long as Chrome stays Windows-only, Apple's Safari faces less competitive pressure on its home platform than it would once Google ports Chrome — every week of delay extends Camino's and Firefox's relevance on the Mac.
- When Google does ship Chrome for Mac, it will arrive targeting exactly the audience a Camino beta is being primed to hold, turning Mozilla's Mac-native project into a direct defensive asset against a better-resourced entrant.
Third-order effects
- If Chrome's Mac arrival compresses attention onto two well-funded engines — Google's and Apple's — niche platform-native projects like Camino risk being squeezed out of mindshare regardless of quality, pushing browser competition toward consolidation around engine backers rather than independent builds.
The trend: Browser competition on the Mac is increasingly shaped by Google's platform-by-platform Chrome rollout, which determines how much oxygen remains for smaller engine-specific builds like Mozilla's Camino.