Have you already stopped using your other calendar programs or Excel spreadsheet in favor of Google Apps? Are you a Google Chat-er rather than a Yahoo Messenger?

If you find that your online life tends to begin and end with Google, then today’s your lucky day. Since you’ve already probably ditched Internet Explorer for Mozilla’s Firefox, you can go one step further and try Google’s Chrome web browser.

Google is scheduled to make Chrome available in beta for downloading in 100 countries on Tuesday, Sept. 2 (apparently its promotion went out early, says the Google blog). If you have a ton of time on your hands, you can even read the 40-page web comic book that the company has posted to explain more about its free, open-source browser.

Google’s take on what you can expect from its Chrome browser: “Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today’s complex web applications much better. By keeping each tab in an isolated ‘sandbox’, we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.”

It’ll be ready for Windows users, with Mac and Linux versions being worked on. The browser launch is the latest in the rivalry between Google and Microsoft, whose forthcoming Internet Explorer 8 is expected to make things harder for targeted online marketing from Google and others, notes the Associated Press (via USA Today).

Firefox 3 made a hefty splash in the blogosphere upon its arrival. Do you think Chrome will have the same following, and are you chomping at the bit to add another Google product into your life?

Arlen Schweiger - Managing editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen contributes product news items to electronichouse.com along with his role on the print publication. Got a tip? Send it along!