Here are the key features of Google's new Chrome browser that are likely to have the most noticeable impact on users:

Crash control. When Web pages misbehave, your browser won't crash. Simply shut down the tab that is showing the misbehaving page.

Flexible tabs. Create new browser windows by dragging tabs apart; consolidate windows by dragging them together by their tabs.

Incognito mode. Google claims there will be no traces of Web activity in this mode. Once you close your browser, it deletes history, temporary page files and passwords. Parents, beware!

Identification of phishing and badware-laden Web sites. Good idea. Most of us use add-ons or anti-virus programs to do this. Making it part of the browser is a great idea -- if they properly identify the bad sites, without misidentifying good sites as bad.

New download paradigm. I'm not sure it's better than previous browsers. But it's different. You'll need to get used to it.

Consolidated search and address bar. One place to type makes it easy. The subtleties about how this combined feature affects our efficiency and our privacy will take months or years to understand.