Google is launching an open source web browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox.
The free browser, called “Chrome,” is supposed to be available in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Google said it’s still working on versions compatible with Apple’s Mac and the Linux operating system.
The browser is designed to be lightweight and fast, and to cope with the next generation of web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia.
With the launch of Google Chrome, Google has published an online reference book, in comic book form, describing the technology behind the browser.
Called Chrome, it will launch as a beta for Windows machines in 100 countries, with Mac and Linux versions to come.
“We realised… we needed to completely rethink the browser,” said Google’s Sundar Pichai in a blog post.
The new browser will help Google take advantage of developments it is pushing online in rich web applications that are challenging traditional desktop programs.
Although Google is using a cartoonish approach to promote Chrome, the new browser underscores the gravity of Google’s rivalry with Microsoft , whose Internet Explorer is used by about 75 percent of Web surfers.
Google for several years has been trying to take advantage of its search engine’s popularity to loosen Microsoft’s grip on how most people interact with personal computers.
The assault so far has been focused on a bundle of computer programs, including word processing and spreadsheet applications, that Google offers as an alternative to one of Microsoft’s biggest money makers, its Office suite of products.
Google has tried to make its alternatives more appealing and accessible by hosting them for free over Internet connections instead of requiring users to pay a licensing fee to install them on individual computers
Meanwhile, Microsoft has been trying to thwart Google by investing billions in the development of its own search engine and making an unsuccessful attempt to buy Yahoo for $47.5 billion.
The tensions between Microsoft and Google now seem likely to escalate with Google’s foray into Web browsing.
In a Monday blog posting, Google touted Chrome as a more sophisticated Web browser better suited for displaying the more dynamic and interactive content blossoming on the Web as people migrate from television, radio and newspapers.
“The Web gets better with more options and innovation,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, Google’s engineering director, wrote in the posting. “Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the Web even better.”
Competition
The launch of a beta version of Chrome on Tuesday will be Google’s latest assault on Microsoft’s dominance of the PC business. The firm’s Internet Explorer program dominates the browser landscape, with 80% of the market.
Those already in the browser space were quick to respond to the news.
Writing in his blog, John Lilly, chief executive of Mozilla was sanguine about the new rival.
“It should come as no real surprise that Google has done something here — their business is the web, and they’ve got clear opinions on how things should be, and smart people thinking about how to make things better.”
Chrome will be a browser optimized for the things that they see as important, and it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves,” he wrote.
He welcomed the competition and said collaboration between Mozilla and Google on certain projects would continue.
Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer, was more bullish.
“The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online,” he said in a statement.
New! Download Chrome (BETA) – the new browser from Google
