Google Chrome browser unveiled

02/09/2008

Google has unveiled its latest internet product offering - a web browser.

The Google Chrome browser is launched in more than 100 countries today (September 2nd) for Windows in beta format, although Mac and Linux versions are also being developed.

Announcing the news on the Official Google Blog after a promotional Google Chrome comic book was accidentally released early, Google vice-president of product management Sundar Pichai and engineering director Linus Upson said that the browser offers a clean, speedy experience for web users.

The open source browser makes use of components from elements such as Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox and positions the address bar within each tab, rather than having one address bar linked to all tabs as seen in Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox.

"What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications - and that's what we set out to build," Mr Pichai and Mr Upson said.

The launch now puts Google in direct competition with the likes of Microsoft and Mozilla in the web browser market, giving web design professionals another compatibility factor to consider.

Last week, Microsoft unveiled the second beta version of the forthcoming Internet Explorer 8.