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However, users might be concerned

Almost as soon as Chrome launched, Google had to address concerns about the End User License Agreement, which was found to be rather strict and all-consuming of your data. The company explained it was simply the result of copying an EULA from another product without trimming certain language.

Another issue has come to light, however. CNet first reported that the Omnibox search function is logging entries from users, even if they never actually hit the Enter key to send a search to Google.

This only happens if the users leaves Chrome's auto-suggest feature on – Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox also has this option – and has Google set as the default search provider.

Google said it would retain about two percent of all the data on searches, along with the IP address of the user. This has not sat well in the blogosphere, with users swearing off Chrome due to privacy concerns.

Rakowski said the quickest fix to the problem is to disable the suggestion service in the toolbar, although he said suggestions are valuable to users. "The purpose [of retaining the data] is to make suggestions as accurate as possible. It's the only way we can provide the suggestion service. We have to get the characters to us to provide the service."

Another option is to use Chrome's Incognito mode, which disables caching, cookies and any other information that might leave a trail, but that also disables the search function, too.

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What's in a name?

The name "Chrome" may sound familiar to long-time Internet users. Back in the late 1990s, Microsoft had a project by the same name that was an attempt to bring high-performance, rich graphics to the Web. It wound up being shelved, although the Silverlight project seems to embody many elements of that early vision.

Google has no compunctions about poking Microsoft in the eye. It's done it more often than a Three Stooges routine, but this isn't one of those moments. Chrome is the border of the browser, where all the buttons and scroll bars are found. "One of the core tenants of the project was 'content not chrome'," explained Rakowski. "It was a tongue in cheek reminder not to put a lot in the interface."

Full time project

Google has a long history of starting projects and not always finishing them. Gmail, for instance, has been in perpetual beta since its launch in 2004. Other projects get started and then seemingly back-burnered like Google Talk, Google Gears and Google Video.

But Rakowski said this is a long term project at the company. "This is definitely a project we are very focused on," he said. "We have an excellent team and we've gotten nothing but encouragement from every part of the company all the way up to the executive team to push on this. This is not a labs product, this is a real, full-fledged Google product and we'll be working hard to get it out of beta."

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