Google Chrome now available for Mac, Linux Users

It's been a year since Google released Chrome for Windows, and now Mac and Linux users have access to the popular, streamlined browser. It comes just two months after Google co-founder Sergey Brin told his audience at the Web 2.0 Summit that the absence of a Mac version of Chrome was a serious disappointment for his company.

To be clear, the edition of Chrome for download by Mac users is still in its beta stages. Still, Google says the release is part of a long-term project that has meant much sweat and stress up to this point.

"The Wait was Worth it, " Says Google

"We've been working hard to deliver a first-class browser for the Mac," said Google's product manager, Brian Rakowski. "It took longer than we expected, but we hope the wait was worth it!" (Source: informationweek.com)

Joining the Mac beta release is a similar package for Linux users. Google has also released browser extensions for beta and developer build users. It's been about six months since Google began encouraging developers to test early developer builds of the browser, but many features were absent up until now.

It's not yet known when a final version of Chrome will be release for Mac and Linux, but Google says when it does the package will be available from a stable channel and not beta or developer builds.

Chrome has proven a popular alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox because of Google's attention to consumer demands for fast startup, fast loading, and fast searches online. (Source: zdnet.com)

Releases Should Help Chrome's Market Growth

As expected, the company wanted to bring those same cornerstone features to the Mac and Linux versions. "We wanted Google Chrome to feel at home on the Mac," Rakowski said in a recent blog posting. "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."

Chrome's popularity is pretty astounding, given its age. Released in September 2008, already the browser owns a 5.1 per cent share of the global browser market, leap-frogging Apple's own Safari web browser.