GOOGLE on Wednesday showed off a slick Web browser that promises to let users surf the Internet faster.

Going by the name Chrome, it could shake up the industry as previous browser wars have done.

Google is eyeing much more: In the same way users access their e-mail on the Web now, it also wants them to do their word-processing and spreadsheets on a more advanced browser in future, forgoing the need to install Microsoft software on their computers.

A trial version of Chrome became available for download on Google's website, www.google.com/chrome on Tuesday, after the company inadvertently leaked information about it days ahead of time.

In a demonstration to reporters on Wednesday, Google showed off Chrome's smart features. For example, its Omnibox can predict what search term or Web address the user wants - even before he is done typing it - based on his past surfing patterns and those of other users online.

A user looking for Amazon, the popular online bookstore, may need type no more than 'Am' to bring up the link to the Website.

The new browser also comes with a new privacy mode which lets a user surf the Net without leaving a trail on a computer, a feature handy for those who share computers with others at home.

With Chrome, Google is taking aim at Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, the browser of choice for three-quarters of Net users and which is pre-loaded on computers running on Windows.

The last browser war, which pitted Microsoft's Explorer against Netscape in the 1990s, left Netscape beaten.

Battlelines have been drawn now therefore, between Microsoft, which made its fortunes selling software to personal computers and Google, which wants to overturn that dominance with online alternatives.

By developing its own browser, Google says it is ensuring that its online applications - alternatives to Microsoft's Word, Excel and Powerpoint - can be run optimally in future.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.