Fast, elegant, but not possessed of the knock-out feature that would make someone want to switch immediately from their existing browser.

That is the thrust of the web's reaction to Chrome, Google's new browser, the release of which has captivated the blogging community more than any event since the launch of Apple's iPhone.

On Google's own blog search tool this morning, a search for 'chrome browser' yielded 45,009 hits, among the first of which was a review from the respected technology site Tech Crunch, which trumpeted: 'This Thing Moves Fast'

The writer went on: "(Chrome) is not only elegant, it understands what you really want to do with a web browser."

Over at the Wall Street Journal, the paper's technology columnist, Walt Mossberg, was characteristically measured: "My verdict: Chrome is a smart, innovative browser that, in many common scenarios, will make using the Web faster, easier and less frustrating. But this first version – which is just a beta, or test, release – is rough around the edges and lacks some common browser features Google plans to add later."

Mr Mossberg suggested that despite the hype, Chrome was still pipped by the latest verison of Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer: "The second beta version of IE8 is the best edition of Internet Explorer in years. It is packed with new features of its own, some of which are similar to those in Chrome, and some of which, in my view, top Chrome’s features."

For those who have been converted from IE to Firefox - 18 per cent of the web users, according to one estimate - Chrome offered little incentive to change browsers again, said Rory Cellan-Jones of the BBC: "Overall, the browser does not feature anything that will blow the socks off a Firefox user– and persuading the mass of Web users, many of whom will be unaware of which browser they use, to go and download Chrome will not be easy."

David Pogue, of the New York Times, also had criticisms - "there's no way to e-mail a web page to someone, no full-screen mode, no way to magnify the page (rather than just the text) and no bookmarks organising screen".

He added that in creating it, Google was also heavily indebted: "Chrome is full of really smart features that seem to have been inspired by other browsers - or ripped off from them, depending on your level of cynicism."

Molly Wood, of CNet, had no such reservations. In one of the more gushing reviews, she wrote: "It is fast as you-know-what. It feels super-responsive, so much so that I first thought it must be a trick. The tabs almost seem to click themselves.

She added that the combined search box and URL line - which searches a mixture of websites, search results and your browsing history in attempting to guess what you're looking for - was in fact "slightly terrifying" and "so speedy that I thought it was reading my mind."

Her response was echoed across the blogging community, which was not short on praise. "This is as close as you can get to replicating the desktop experience with web applications," wrote the respected blogger Om Malik.

The mainstream publications, however, were tinged with a slight sense of deflation, typified by the FT's view: "Chrome lacked that single knockout feature that one might expect from a browser two years in development at one of the world’s leading web companies," it wrote.

"Indeed, many of its features are already available in other browsers – although bringing the best of those into a single piece of software is a useful achievement."

Google, meanwhile, is doing its best to convince the world that Chrome is worth a look. A link which lets users download the new browser now has a privileged - and highly public - place on the Google home page - arguably one of the most watched spots on the planet.

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