Images: How Google's Chrome browser shines

For years, people have speculated about whether Google would ever release its own operating system. And now, it has--well, kind of. Chrome (download here) is an open-source attempt by the search giant to bring Internet browsers in line with how we use the Web today--streaming videos, chatting online, and using Web-only applications.

Chrome rethinks a lot of traditional browser architecture, borrowing from Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and even Opera. But it also introduces several innovative new features of its own that cross over into the OS realm.

Photo by Robert Vamosi/CNET Networks; Google

Caption by Robert Vamosi