Not content with unleashing the Android version of its popular browser, Google has also found time this week to reveal the 17th stable iteration of Google Chrome for your desktop.

Yep, Google Chrome 17 is here - about three and a half years since the first version came flooding out of Mountain View. That's some rapid release cycle.

But, rather than being a boring update concerned with debugging and behind the scenes developer changes, Chrome 17 does pack some cool new features that will make your browsing swishier  - including prerendering of web-pages when you type into the omnibox based on your web history and habits.

"When I visit my favourite sandwich shop, I always order the same thing: a chicken cashew salad sandwich on whole wheat (it’s awesome)," explains Chrome software engineer Noé Lutz.

"Now, the owners know what I want as soon as I walk in the door. Which means they can start making it before I say a word. Which means I get my sandwich faster.

"Chrome now does the same thing. Except not with sandwiches. When you start typing in the omnibox and the URL autocompletes to a site you’re very likely to visit, Chrome will prerender the page, so it will appear faster - sometimes, even instantly - as soon as you hit Enter."

Chrome 17 also gives extra protection from cyber nasties, with added security to protect you from downloading malicious software.

Google Chrome is growing its market share at an incredible pace and is on course to overtake Microsoft's Internet Explorer this year. StatCounter reports that Chrome is now the browser of choice for more than one in four web surfers (27 per cent) and that IE is losing its dominance daily. Microsoft's once undisputed king still holds more than a third (38 per cent) of the market share - but this is way down on its 70 per cent share back in 2008.

You can get in on the revolution by downloading Chrome 17 now. It's free, of course.