Google Wave Coming Next Week: IE Users Be Prepared

The highly anticipated Google Wave is coming next week and we all know what benefits this new communication and collaboration tool can bring.

But if you’re using Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8, you will need to install a Google Chrome Frame. It is a plug-in exclusively for Internet Explorer users to experience Google Wave fully, by bringing HTML5 and other open web technologies to Internet Explorer.

The message is simple: For IE users who wish to use Google Wave effectively, you will have to install the plug-in or dump IE.  Make your choice.

Google explained:

“Google Wave depends on strong JS and DOM rendering performance to provide a desktop-like experience in the browser. HTML5’s offline storage and web workers will enable us to add great features without having to compromise on performance. Unfortunately, Internet Explorer, still used by the majority of the Web’s users, has not kept up with such fairly recent developments in Web technology. Compared with other browsers, the JavaScript performance is many times slower and HTML5 support is still far behind. Likewise, the many different versions of IE still in use — each with its own set of CSS quirks and layout limitations — further complicates building rich Web applications.”

“In the past, the Google Wave team has spent countless hours solely on improving the experience of running Google Wave in Internet Explorer. We could continue in this fashion, but using Google Chrome Frame instead lets us invest all that engineering time in more features for all our users, without leaving Internet Explorer users behind.”

What happens next for IE users

It is okay to remain status quo right now. You’ll be prompted with the message below on your first login to Google Wave:

Installing the plug-in is just a click away and according to Google, you will be able to run Google Wave as fast as a Google Chrome user.

This Google Chrome Plug-in is probably built specifically for Google Wave. As the Internet Explorer is currently still the dominant web browser, it is a wiser choice to provide a plug-in rather than forcing them to switch to Google Chrome.