Google Chrome is a freeware web browser developed by Google. It used the WebKit layout engine until version 27 and, with the exception of its iOS releases, from version 28 and beyond uses the WebKit fork Blink. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and as a stable public release on December 11, 2008.As of October 2015, StatCounter estimates that Google Chrome has a 56% worldwide usage share of web browsers as a desktop browser.