Google to launch browser to compete with Microsoft

It's yet another salvo in the company's intensifying battle with Microsoft Corp., which last week released a beta, or test, version of Internet Explorer 8 that makes it easier to block ads from Google and others.

"This is the first truly serious threat that Microsoft has faced from a well-funded platform," said technology analyst Rob Enderle, president of the Enderle Group.

A beta version of the Google browser, called Chrome, will be available for download by Windows computer users in more than 100 countries. Chrome will offer features that make it easier, faster and safer to browse the Web, the Mountain View, Calif., search giant said in a blog postMonday.

Google has long ruled how people search the Web. Now it is going after how they navigate it, analysts say.

"We like this move by Google and believe it can help to increase or at least maintain its leading search market share," Needham & Co. analyst Mark May said in an e-mail. "As the starting point for nearly every user's Internet experience, the browser is important online real estate. The market share gains by Firefox in a short period of time show to us that users are looking for better browser experiences."

One feature will allow consumers to run Web-based applications independently, which means that if one program crashes it won't take down the browser.

By improving the reliability of such online services, Chrome could mark another step in the browser's drive to supersede the computer operating system in importance, said Matt Rosoff, analyst with Directions on Microsoft, a research firm focused on Microsoft products and strategy.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft holds a virtual monopoly in operating systems, but their importance in the computing landscape is diminishing as Web-based programs become the starting point for many users.

Chrome will be an open-source product, meaning anyone can modify the software code and add features.

Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch called the browser market "highly competitive" and said he remained confident that consumers would stick with Microsoft's product.