Open source browser launched by Google
02/09/2008
Built to provide steamlined access to browser applications (as well as Google's own services).
Search giant Google has entered the browser market with its own product, Google Chrome, in news likely to be of interest to the website maintenance and design sector.
A beta version of the application for Windows is available for download from today (September 2nd), with Chrome for Linux and Mac currently in development.
The news was announced after a Google-produced comic book detailing the various features of the open source browser was accidentally launched early.
Explaining the launch on the Official Google Blog, Google vice-president of product management Sundar Pichai and engineering director Linus Upson said that Chrome offers a streamlined interface that is capable of processing data quickly, as well as providing integration with Google's various applications and services.
It was built using components from Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox and comes with a purpose-built JavaScript engine, V8, "to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers", Mr Pichai and Mr Upson remarked.
The two executives also revealed that the browser went into development as part of a drive to build an application specifically for the wealth of applications and information on the web today.
According to web programmer Wilson Lee, the fact that the browser is based on WebKit means that developers are unlikely to run into many compatibility issues as long as their websites are already compliant with Safari.
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