Google is preparing to release a test version of its Chrome browser for Microsoft’s Windows 8, and company this afternoon provided a first glimpse of the app, which looks a lot like the existing versions of the Chrome browser.

The version will run in the new Metro and traditional desktop environments of Windows 8, and it will be available to via the Chrome Dev channel to people running the Windows  8 Release Preview.

Carlos Pizano, a Google software engineer and “Metro Gnome,” says in a blog post that Chrome won’t run in versions of Windows 8 for ARM processors, point out that “Microsoft is not allowing browsers other than Internet Explorer on the platform,” linking to a Mozilla post calling out Microsoft for exclusionary practices on that version of Windows, known as WinRT.

Ed Bott of ZDNet offers this clarification: “Google and Mozilla can, if they choose, build browsers for Windows RT. But those browsers would lack the ability to execute JavaScript efficiently, they would be prevented from using plugins, and they would have to be approved by Microsoft and delivered through the Windows app store.”

Previously on GeekWire: Windows 8 Release Preview debuts, Microsoft confirms $15 upgrade promotion

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