Google brings Chrome Browser to Mac, Linux

In its effort to popularise its browser Chrome, Google finally released the Google Chrome browser in beta yesterday for Mac, OS X and Linux.

Google launched the Chrome only for Windows in September 2008 (See: Google launches own internet browser 'Google Chrome') in competition to Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer..

Although Google released basic rough versions of Chrome for Mac and Linux in June, the browser did not allow users to print, manage bookmarks, or alter privacy settings and did not include Flash support.

Yesterday's software release took care of those flaws and product manager Brian Rakowski said in a blog post, "We've been working hard to deliver a first-class browser for the Mac -- it took longer than we expected, but we hope the wait was worth it."

"We wanted Google Chrome to feel at home on the Mac, so we've focused on uniting our clean, simple design with subtle animations and effects to create a snappy and satisfying browsing experience on OS X, he added."

Since the launch of Chrome for Windows in September 2008, Google Chrome now commands a 5.1-per cent of the global browser market and in November surpassed Apple's Safari browser, which had a global market share of 4.36 per cent.