Google Chrome 47.2 beta Free Download

Google’s game changing browser Chrome combines sophisticated technology with a simple UI, to create a faster, safer and easier browsing experience. Launched in 2008, Google Chrome quickly dominated the browser market to become the most used browser globally within 4 years of its public release. Google’s rapid and continuous development cycle ensures the browser continues to compete with the other most popular and advanced web browsers available.

Speed

Perhaps the area Google invested most of its development time to differentiate from other browsers. Google Chrome launches extremely quickly from your desktop, runs applications at speed thanks to a powerful JavaScript engine and loads pages rapidly using the WebKit open source rendering engine. Add to this quicker search and navigation options from the simplified UI and you have a browser that is pretty hard to beat on speed, especially if gaming is your thing.

Clean, simple UI

Google Chrome’s most striking feature and a substantial factor in its popularity - the simple UI hasn’t changed much since the beta launch in 2008. Google focused on trimming down unnecessary toolbar space to maximise browsing real estate. The browser is made up of 3 rows of tools, the top layer horizontally stacks automatically adjusting tabs, next to a simple new tabs icon and the standard minimize, expand & close windows controls. The middle row includes 3 navigation controls (Back, Forward & Stop/Refresh), a URL box which also allows direct Google web searching and a star bookmarking icon. Extensions and browser settings icons line up to the right of the URL box. The third row is made up of bookmark folders and installed apps. Easily overlooked now, this clean UI was a breath of fresh air compared to the overcrowded toolbars of popular browsers pre-2008.

Privacy

Another hugely popular feature, Incognito mode allows you to browse privately by disabling history recording, reducing traceable breadcrumbs and removing tracking cookies on shutdown. Chrome’s settings also allow you to customize regular browsing privacy preferences.

Security

Chrome’s Sandboxing prevents malware automatically installing on your computer or affecting other browser tabs. Chrome also has Safe Browsing technology built in with malware and phishing protection that warns you if you encounter a website suspected of containing malicious software/activity. Regular automatic updates ensure security features are up to date and effective.

Customization

A vast selection of apps, extensions, themes and settings make your browsing experience unique to you. Improve productivity, security, navigation speed, pretty much anything you can think of with apps and extensions from the Google Chrome Store. Install themes created by top artists or make your own using mychrometheme.com. Sign in with your Google Account to back up your contacts, preferences, history as well as access all your Google tools with a single login.

The browser was first publicly released for Microsoft Windows (XP and later versions) on September 2, 2008 in 43 languages, officially a beta version.^[22]

On the same day, a CNET news item^[23] drew attention to a passage in the Terms of Service statement for the initial beta release, which seemed to grant to Google a license to all content transferred via the Chrome browser. This passage was inherited from the general Google terms of service.^[24] Google responded to this criticism immediately by stating that the language used was borrowed from other products, and removed this passage from the Terms of Service.^[9]

Chrome quickly gained about 1% usage share.^{[21][25][26][27]} After the initial surge, usage share dropped until it hit a low of 0.69% in October 2008. It then started rising again and by December 2008, Chrome again passed the 1% threshold.^[28]

In early January 2009, CNET reported that Google planned to release versions of Chrome for OS X and Linux in the first half of the year.^[29] The first official Chrome OS X and Linux developer previews^[30]were announced on June 4, 2009 with a blog post^[31] saying they were missing many features and were intended for early feedback rather than general use.

In December 2009, Google released beta versions of Chrome for OS X and Linux.^[32][33] Google Chrome 5.0, announced on May 25, 2010, was the first stable release to support all three platforms.^[34]

Chrome was one of the twelve browsers offered to European Economic Area users of Microsoft Windows in 2010.^[35]