Google promises Chrome for Mac and Linux

Google is promising Mac and Linux versions of its Chrome browser

Google has promised to deliver versions of its Chrome web browser for Mac and Linux users.

Amanda Walker, a software engineer at Google, said in a posting to the company's official Mac blog that the browser will be completely rewritten for the Mac and Linux releases.

Walker noted that the products are far from ready for release, describing development as still being 'pieces' of an application rather than a completed build.

The developer also said that, with the release of the Windows build, the Mac and Linux versions would become 'open' projects so that users could track progress.

"For a number of reasons, much of the initial prototyping and design was done for Windows," Walker wrote.

"We wanted to make sure that the user experience was very smooth for Windows users as well, and when you're hashing out and testing ideas it can be helpful to not have to do so on three platforms simultaneously."

Walker dismissed the notion that the Mac and Linux builds would be the conventional software 'ports' in which Windows code is merely tweaked to work on a different platform.

"In order to make sure Chromium [the open source project for Google Chrome] feels right, each platform's version is being built by people who live and breathe that platform," she said.

"The engineers working on these versions are long-time Mac and Linux engineers who are just as picky about the details as anyone.

"Macs and Linux machines are very popular at Google at all levels, so progress is already being followed avidly across all levels of the company."