Download Google Chrome for Windows 7 / Windows Vista / Windows XP

Before we start this tutorial on downloading the Google Chrome web browser for Windows 7 / Vista / XP, let us just say that it is also available for Mac OS X and Linux - we'll just focus on Windows in this tutorial. Google Chrome is one of the fastest new browsers to gain popularity, thanks in part to Google's marketing and cross-promotion campaign, and the enormous number of people using some kind of Google services. This is free tutorial explains how to download the Chrome web browser on your computer; we'll allude to the installation process itself, but -especially if you have installed other pieces of software from Google- installing Chrome is mostly an invisible process, where everything is done automatically.

Download Chrome on your computer

Follow these steps to get the latest version of the Chrome web browser on your computer; we'll also show you how to download Chrome Beta, which are typically very stable, and mostly ready for prime time.

• First, load the Chrome download page in a browser of your choice: the URL is simply google.com/chrome, which directly includes download instructions.
• When the page has loaded, you will see a big blue "Download Google Chrome" button, as shown on the screenshot below: click on it if you want to download the latest stable, and official, version of the web browser - note that the download page automatically recognizes the operating system (Windows / Mac / Linux) you are using, and is available for the last three Windows (what version of Windows do I have?).
  
  
  (Since we are using Windows, the download button targets Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7)
• If you want to download Chrome Beta, look instead below the blue Download button, and click on the "Try the latest BETA version" link as shown below.
  
  
• You will be redirected to the Google Chrome Beta download page, which contains a big blue button like the first one; to proceed with beta instead of stable version, just click on the "Get Google Chrome (BETA)" button:
  
  
• In both cases (whether you chose to download Chrome stable, or Chrome Beta), you will be sent to a Terms of Services page - you'll need to agree to these terms before you can download your copy of Chrome; the "Set Google Chrome as my default browser" checkbox is selected by default (uncheck it if you want to keep your current default web browser). You can also (optionally) "Help make Google Chrome better" by checking the second checkbox, and allowing Google to gather anonymous usage data on your experience with Chrome (this is something you can change later on, one way or the other, by customizing your Chrome options).
  
  
• Click on the "Accept and Install" button, and Google will start downloading Chrome, and installing it on your PC. Within a second or so, the "Google Chrome Installer" Windows will open, download Chrome, and automatically install it on your computer, add a shortcut to your start menu, and another one on your desktop.
  
  
• Once the download and installation are complete, the Chrome web browser will automatically launch; we recommend that you close it, and re-launch it automatically (this is because depending on the version of Windows you are using, and the privilege level you have (standard user or administrator), the first session might be run as administrator - put simply, it would not remember under your profile the settings you customize, but it will behave normally after you manually restart it, and from thereon). And Chrome beautifully integrates with the "Aero" theme, available in the last two versions of Windows - more at our Windows 7 Tutorial.

This is all it takes to download Google Chrome and get the latest version of that web browser for free! Note that Chrome will periodically, and automatically, update itself.