Google unveils Chrome web browser

2nd September 2008

A new open source internet browser has been launched by search giant Google.

Google Chrome is based on elements of Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's WebKit and will become available as a beta download for Windows today (September 2nd).

The browser has a streamlined, uncluttered interface and deploys a purpose-built V8 JavaScript engine to aid the running of rich internet applications.

Chrome also eschews the convention of having a single address bar for use by all tabs, inserting a separate bar into each tab instead.

The browser was announced yesterday after a comic book detailing Chrome's various features was prematurely published.

Google's Sundar Pichai and Linus Upson said on the Official Google Blog: "The web gets better with more options and innovation. Google Chrome is another option and we hope it contributes to making the web even better."

This comes days after Microsoft made Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 available as a download for consumers and web programmers.