- Image via Wikipedia
Google Chrome is one of the most recent newcomers to the Web browser game. Just developed and released in 2008, it is a Web browser that currently works only with the Microsoft Windows operating system. The operating system got a huge boost simply by coming from Google- perhaps the best-known Internet company today. Perhaps in part because of its origins, Google Chrome was immediately popular, and in the two years since its release it has become the third most popular Web browser available. This has given in a market share of a little more than 7 percent. Though that may not sound like much, 7 percent of Web users represent millions upon millions of users.
Standing on the shoulders of the Internet browser giants, Chrome has many similarities to Web browsers that have come before. It has a set of options that are reminiscent of Apple’s Safari Web browser, and the settings are similar in design to Internet Explorer. The design of the browser is different from the main Google site in many ways, and the browser uses different colors for its logo than most people are used to seeing on the Google website. This may remove the site from the browser in many people’s minds.
Though initially offering it in a version that is only compatible with the Microsoft Windows operating system, that won’t always be the case. The limited accessibility may be hampering the Web browser’s customer numbers for now, but when later versions are released this will almost certainly not be the case. The company plans to release newer versions of Chrome that will run in Mac OS X. This will open up the Apple market and bring millions of customers who are fans of Google as well as Mac users who are interested in trying out new browsers on their Macs.
