Google Chrome turns five -- Happy Birthday!

Kids and web browsers -- they grow up so fast these days. Seems like only yesterday that Google released its web browser to the public and set geek hearts aflutter with its speed and light footprint. Things have changed a bit, but many of us stick to the software as our browser of choice.

Google launched Chrome, in beta form, on September 2, 2008 for Windows only, and followed quickly with the source code as an open source project known as Chromium. The initial kickoff came in 43 different languages.

Chrome is currently at version 29 and, while some of the shine has come off during the past five years, it remains a solid competitor to both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome has become entrenched thanks to the many features it brings to the table, including extensions, new tab page, security for downloads and web tracking and much more. Those same features, however, have also caused the browser to swell and lose a bit of the speed edge that made it popular with those in-the-know. This will hopefully change in the near future as Google has forked the Webkit engine that powers Chrome and announced Blink.

With a potentially bright future in the form of a new, sleeker engine, Chrome prepares to move forward and continue to compete in the market. For now, we simply wish it a happy birthday.