Google has been saying for almost a decade now that they do not hold any interest in launching a browser of their own. But there were already rumours that the internet company was on the verge of coming out with a browser of their own. Indeed, Google Chrome has just been unveiled.

A few noteworthy features of Google Chrome are:

• V8, a JavaScript Virtual Machine
• Google Gears is integrated in the open source platform.
• A mode called Incognito, that doesn’t log anything occurring onto the computer.
• Special functionality for tabbed browsing
• Includes advanced level of privacy/ phishing/ malware protection
• The address bar is search powered and enables auto-completion
• Browser windows can launch web applications

An internet expert, commenting on Google Chrome, state that:

Without Firefox plug-ins, it will be a backup at best for now.

But a thing to note here is that Google itself is admitting that:

This is just the beginning, and that ‘Google Chrome is far from done’.

We have released this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We are hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and we shall continue to make it even faster and more robust.