Google’s Chrome browser is shining brightly, and it’s not hard to see why. First, the stats: According to the latest NetApplications figures, Chrome now has 6.7 percent of the browser market–a stunning rise from zero prior to 2009. Competing browsers are either treading water or, as in the case of Microsoft Internet Explorer, in precipitous freefall.

So what explains Chrome’s sudden burst of popularity? Here are five reasons: