Google is launching its own free, open source web browser. Google Chrome, as the browser is called, will only be available for Windows operating systems for a while, but the team is working on developing the product for Mac and Linux users as well.

 

Since Google is undoubtedly ruling the search market, many wonder as to why the company felt the need to sail close to the wind, as all the pieces seem to be well set on the board – Microsoft's Internet Explorer is leading the market, with Mozilla's Firefox distantly following. Google believes that one more good application can never be too much and, in this sense, Chrome promises to be a breakthrough.

 

“We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. 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.” VP Product Management Sundar Pichai and Engineering Director Linus Upson wrote on Google's official blog, announcing the launch.

 

What singles out the new browser is, primarily, the fact that tabs are given a greater importance than windows. Hence, tabs will be set at the top of the page, above the address bar. To each tab a separate process will be assigned, which means that, whenever one jams or is unresponsive, the others will continue to work. Thanks to a JavaScript engine, V8, pages will load really fast compared with similar products, the company claims.

 

As a plus, users will have the possibility to track all the processes employed by the browser, and to detect which webpages eat up more resources. Also, the Google browser will have a function resemblant to “Suggest,” used by the search engine to offer hints on most popular pages whenever users start writing something in the search box. Here too, users will have the possibility to shortcut their way to webpages that have been previously opened with the browser, or to get suggestions about the most visited websites corresponding to the first letters typed in the address bar.

 

Google, bearing in mind the criticism regarding users' privacy that the company faced many times, will allow them to make use of the browser in an “incognito” mode, which will prevent the storage of any information related to what users do with it.

 

Furthermore, Google is following up its simplicity approach, underscoring that a browser is a tool focused on functionality, therefore, making it a real eye candy is not necessary. “On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff – the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.” Pichai and Upson added.

 

Today, people from over 100 countries will get to have their say about the latest product of the Mountain View-based company.