Google on Tuesday released a version of its Chrome web browser for Macintosh computers in a challenge to Safari software Apple offers users of its machines.

“We took a hefty dose of goodness from the Windows version to build a fast, polished browser for Mac,” software engineers John Grabowski and Mike Pinkerton of the Google Chrome team said in a blog post.

Late last year Google released a Chrome browser for personal computers running on Windows software made by technology rival Microsoft, which promotes its own Internet Explorer browsers.

The Macintosh version of Chrome is in beta mode and does not yet have customisation features such as allowing extension programs or bookmark management, according to the engineers.

Google also released a beta version of Chrome for computers running on open-source Linux operating systems.

Linux and Windows compatible versions of Chrome could be customised with features such as mini “extension” programs.

“We hope the betas for Mac, Linux and extensions were some of the things on your wish list this year,” Google product manager Brian Rakowski said in a blog post.

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