Mumbai: Google Inc is launching 'Google Chrome' - a beta version of its own open source web browser – allowing Google users in more than 100 countries to use its own browser, the company said in a blog posting.

''As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome,'' the company said in the official announcement that appeared late on Tuesday afternoon.

The blog posting was by Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, engineering director.

The browser window is ''streamlined and simple,'' they said, describing in words what can be seen visually at the unofficial blog, Google Blogoscoped.

''To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff - the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go,'' the blog posting said.

Google Chrome will challenge Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website.

Google Chrome is designed to make it easier and faster to browse the web, by offering enhanced address-bar features and other elements that are very different from those on other browsers. The product will be open-sourced, meaning others can modify the code, according to the report.

Chrome will run web applications ''much better,'' they wrote, with tabs kept in an isolated `sandbox,' which will prevent ''one tab from crashing into another and provide improved protection from rogue sites.'' Better speed and responsiveness are also part of Chrome, which features ''a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers," it said.

The open-source Chrome uses components from Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox, they wrote.

Google has been working on the product for about two years, but work became more serious when Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 7, the Wall Street Journal said.
 
Google said the browser would add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web.

''We realised that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build, '' the blog report said.

''This is just the beginning - Google Chrome is far from done. We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust,'' the report said

''The web gets better with more options and innovation. Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the web even better,'' it added.

Google said it will post update on Google Chrome as soon as it is ready.