The buzz in every tech circle this week has been the release of Google's long-awaited Chrome browser. Dubbed everything from a warning shot at Mircosoft to a sure-fire Firefox killer, Chrome has captured the attention of nearly everyone with a software fetish — and it's beginning to show.

According to numbers released by Net Applications and corroborated by StatCounter, Chrome seized an astounding 1% of the browser market within its first twenty-four hours — a remarkable feat to be sure. While it doesn't begin to touch on Firefox's phenomenal numbers, a 1% share within a day of release is nothing to sneeze at. Indeed, for some it's something to cry about, as the new kid blazed past some longtime contenders on the chart, including Opera which holds a mere 0.74% of the market more than a decade after its initial release.

Hourly numbers for Chrome, which has topped out at just over 1.5%, are available from Net Applications' Market Share site.