Google Chrome web browser update out today

Google has released several new features for its Chrome web browser - which turned one earlier this month.

Chrome users can now personalise the browser with various themes and wallpapers, and order and change the selection of website favourites that appear when they open a new tab.

Google has also tweaked its "omnibox" feature - which combines the website address bar and search bar, adding icons to help users distinguish between suggested sites, searches, bookmarks and sites from their browsing history.

Chrome holds 2.9 per cent of the global browser market while Microsoft's Internet Explorer has 66.6 per cent, according to web metrics firm Net Applications.

Product manager director Brian Rakowski says more than 30 million people use Chrome regularly.

The company plans to release beta versions of Chrome for Mac and Linux operating systems and allow software developers to create applications for the browser by the end of the year.

 "A Gmail user might want a notifier in the browser that tells them if they have a new a Gmail message.

"We want people to customise the browser to suit the things they do online."

Google is also developing its own open source operating system.

Open source software is usually free and can be easily modified as its code is publicly available.

- © Fairfax NZ News