[UPDATE 17:16: It's out! Download the Google browser here.] Yes, they’re making a browser too, and it’ll be ready for download later today. Here is the official info page, and a comic book about the technology behind the browser — if you’ve ever done any programming or just appreciate good UI design, prepare to salivate.

[via Official Google Blog]

Using Google Chrome is at first a bittersweet experience. Sweet, because it is SO fast. They really weren’t kidding about the completely built-from-scratch-and-optimized-up-the-ass Javascript support. The tabs are also much more lightweight and responsive than in Firefox (I don’t use IE so won’t even make that comparison…). I take Google’s word for it that the browser is crash-proof against problems from any given tab. (On a side note, what an ingenious idea to use separate processes for each tab — with all the extra memory on today’s systems, this is an extremely elegant way to make things instantly faster, and more secure to boot.)

Now the experience is also bittersweet, because immediately I realized that soon there will be no practical reason to use Firefox. I mean, FF3 has only been out a few months, and Google has taken everything that’s good about it and improved them 10-fold. Firefox has been a good thing both as a browser and as a larger demonstration of the power of volunteer/open-source software development. Now it seems almost that a centralized, corporate-controlled effort still yields a better product. Of course, Google isn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill corporation either.

Of course, there are a few things I’m still gonna need Firefox for, namely embedded support for del.icio.us bookmarks, mouse gestures, and all the goodies that come with having an extension-driven feature set. But for regular, quick browsing, Google’s minimalist approach really shines again. (The first time was with Google Talk, which I think is the most elegantly designed IM client ever, but I understand that nobody other than me actually uses it.)