The news has already spread across the globe through the means of the internet, but the first beta release of Chrome, which is also right away version 4.0, has been released for Linux and Mac.

Up till now all Chrome releases were for the most popular platform on the planet: Windows. But today marks a new day, one that shows that Google and its engineers are committed to bringing Chrome to the other platforms, mainly Linux and Mac. Of course Linux is quite important for Google as it is the basis of it's upcoming new Chrome OS as well.

However Linux and Mac users should still be realistic. It's an early beta and it lacks a lot of features. For instance the Mac release comes without extensions, while both platforms lack a bookmarks manager, the latest bookmarks sync (through Google Docs) feature, and more. Of course the folks at Google are working hard to make the non-Windows platforms equal in features, but it also means they need time, and a lot of it.

On the bright side it feels solid and does include the well known new architecture in Chrome, using multiple processes for tabbed/windowed browsing as well as the sandbox principle. Of course V8 is included and shows that it is one of the world's fastest JavaScript engines out there.

You can try Google Chrome 4.0 Beta for yourself, while Windows beta users can indulge themselves in the recently opened extensions website.