Google unveils Chrome internet browser as it bids to take on Microsoft

The free browser, called 'Chrome,' is being promoted as a sleeker, faster, safer and more reliable alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which has been the leading vehicle for surfing the web for the past decade.

Despite recent inroads by Mozilla's Firefox, Internet Explorer is still used by roughly three-quarters of the world's internet users.

Google software engineer Ben Goodger introduces the company's new web browser, Google Chrome

'What we want is a diverse and vibrant ecosystem,' Google co-founder Sergey Brin said last night  during Chrome's unveiling.

'We want several browsers that are viable and substantial choices.'

Among other features, Chrome's navigation bar - where you type in an Internet address - will serve a dual purpose.

Users can either enter an address into the space or type a search request that will be processed through their search engine of choice

Google Chrome promises to load pages faster and more securely than traditional browsers. From today, Windows users in 100 countries can access a beta version

"You only have 24 hours a day and we would like you to do more searches,' Google's other co-founder, Larry Page, said at the unveiling.

'If the browser runs well, then you will do more searches.'

Chrome organises information into tabbed pages and web programs can be launched in their own dedicated windows.

It also offers a variety of features to make the browser more stable and secure, according to a comic book guide that was released earlier than intended to a blogger who then posted it on the internet.

Among Chrome's features is a special privacy mode that lets users create an 'incognito' window where 'nothing that occurs in that window is ever logged on your computer.'

A Google cartoon has outlined the new features of the Chrome browser. (Click enlarge for full cartoon)

Google's engineers have borrowed open-source code from a variety of projects including Apple's WebKit and the Mozilla Firefox open-source browser.

The company plans to make all of Chrome software code open to other developers to enhance and expand.

Mozilla recently introduced its own upgraded browser, Firefox 3, and has collaborated with Google on a variety of technical issues, including a system for reporting software crashes and to make software browsers more secure.

John Lilly, Chief Executive of Mozilla said in a blog post that they would continue to collaborate with Google where it made sense for both organisations, but would also focus on keeping the web open by fostering its own commmunity-developed browser.

The launch of Chrome coincides with the recent introduction by arch-rival Microsoft of its Internet Explorer 8 last month.

Internet Explorer holds roughly three-quarters of the browser market, followed by Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari browsers.

To view the user friendly cartoon that outlines Google Chrome visit: http://blogoscoped.com/google-chrome