Google has launched the beta version of Chrome,, its inaugural browser, just ahead of its 10th anniversary.

Read our 10-year timeline to celebrate Google's birthday

Web User staff writer JJ O'Dononghue attended the press launch of the new browser at Google's London headquarters. Here he takes a look at Google's first foray into the browser world.

First impressions reveal that Google has stuck with its simple design aesthetic, which has formed the basis of its incredibly popular search engine.

There are a number of innovations that are unique to Chrome, which Microsoft and Firefox will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on and could even replicate because Chrome is an open-source browser.

At the moment Chrome is only available for Windows computers using Vista or XP operating systems; Mac and Linux versions are on the way, but a date has yet to be announced.

Smart Address Bar and Search Engine
Surfers will be familiar with the smart address bar, already a staple in Opera, Firefox and in the beta version of Internet Explorer 8, launched last week. Google has gone one step further and combined the search engine and the smart address bar, so you can search and browse the internet from one box, called the Omnibar.

By combining the two functions in one, the result is a clean interface. As Eric Tholomé, product manager and director for applications at Google explained, surfers will be able to do everything in one intuitive bar, increasing the efficiency of the browser experience.

Like Firefox's 'Awesome Bar', Google Chrome will suggest a list of websites you have visited once you start typing in the search bar. It also suggests returns for keywords or phrases you type in.

To bookmark a site click the star beside the address bar. As with other browsers you can import your bookmarks and when you first launch Chrome you are given the option of which search engine you want to use, so you're not tied into using Google's.

The Need for Speed
As Google is at heart a web company, efficiency and an enjoyable web experience is at the core of its operations. During the two years of testing and building Chrome one of the driving factors behind the new engine was to increase the browser speed. A group of engineers based in Denmark worked solely on the back end of the browser building a powerful new JavaScript engine called V8. The result is an incredibly fast browser.

Tabbing
Chrome adds another dimension to tabbing by making sure that all open tabs are independent and isolated of each other. So, for instance, if you have a number of tabs open and you're emailing, conducting online banking and streaming music and one of the tabs crashes, Chrome will isolate this tab, so that it does not crash all other open tabs.

You can also click on a tab to separate it and move it around the screen. Another useful innovation is when you close a tab the next tab lines up automatically so that you don't have to move the mouse as you do in IE8 and Firefox.

Surfing Incognito
Comparisons with IE8's InPrivate Browsing, which has been dubbed 'porn mode' by wags, and Chrome's private browsing service, called Incognito, are inevitable.

To browse the web so that you leave no trace of your browsing history simply click the menu page at the right of the address bar and from the drop-down menu select 'New Incognito Window'. While surfing InCognito, Chrome will store none of your browsing history; no cookies, no passwords, nothing.

Like Microsoft, Google is keen to trumpet the benefits of this service, whether it is checking bank accounts on a shared computer or buying a present online. However, by virtue of its ability to wipe clean browsing history, Incognito will undoubtedly be popular for viewing adult material online.

History
It happens to us all at some stage; while surfing the net you come across something of interest, but forget to bookmark it. Later, you try to retrace your steps, but where you do you begin?

With Chrome's History service, located under the spanner icon, you can search your entire browsing history. It works in a similar way to Google's search engine - simply type in a keyword or phrase or web address, and Chrome will search for that site. You can define your search to a certain day or days.

Initial impressions
For a web company, Google's arrival to the browser world seems a little late. In the past few years the increased competition in the browser market has only been a good thing for surfers. The arrival of Firefox upped the ante for Microsoft and initial impressions of the beta version of IE8 are that it is Microsoft's best browser in years.

Chrome is a triumphant first offering. The speed of the browser is impressive, and the innovations incorporated in Chrome, such as the combined search engine and address bar, show that Google understands browsing and can improve the experience.

Best of all, however, is that Chrome is open source; so from its launch yesterday web developers and engineers all over the world can access Chrome's code, enabling them to build improvements around it.

As stated already, Mozilla's open-source browser Firefox not only gave surfers a choice but also improved browsing greatly. With Chrome, the bar is raised again, and as Google is keen to point out, there is nothing to stop either Mozilla or Microsoft adopting innovations from Chrome and adding them to their respective browsers.

Download Google Chrome from www.google.com/chrome.

Will you be using Google's Chrome to surf the net? Let us know in the Web User forums.

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