Is Google Wave the IE Killer App?

Google Wave, the search giant's messaging/e-mail/collaboration application, is being opened up to 100,000 beta users today. What many people may not know, is that Wave does not support Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. Users of IE trying to log in to the service will see a banner telling them as much, and a recommendation to install Chrome Frame or one of the browsers that are supported (Chrome, Safari, or Firefox).

The reason for this is that Explorer does not include a high-performance JavaScript engine, like all other modern browsers. Could the Wave project be part of Google's strategy to overtake Microsoft in the browser wars? It certainly seems like the perfect demonstration of why you would want to use a high-performance JavaScript enabled browser. Microsoft has argued that such support is not needed for todays web pages and offers users no practical benefits. Google Wave says "Oh yeah? Check this out".

The move to cloud based computings online apps, more interactivity and concurrent collaboration that Wave hints at should give web developers a good taste for what can be accomplished. To join the service's preview, you will need an invite from Google or a Wave user for the moment, since each user receiving an invite from Google will also be able to invite 8 other people. That means a potential of 900,000 users, for a preview of the new service, an army of IE killers.