Google Chrome is a popular web browser designed, developed and maintained by the search-engine giant Google. Google Chrome make use of the Chromium’s source code, which is also an open-source web browser. The Chrome browser introduces a wide range of features developed internally by Google and also includes additional components.
Initially introduced in 2008, the Chromium web browser was introduced in 2008 via Git. The modules of the Chromium browser have been released under several free software licenses including BSD License, MIT License, and LGPL. Google Chrome, on the other hand, is a proprietary web browser created by Google.
The main reason behind the integration of Chrome and Chromium is that Google Chrome features the source code of Chromium browser. You should note that both Google and Chromium are different browsers but Chrome makes use of Chromium. It is possible to distinguish between Chrome and Chromium b just looking at the respective logos. While Chromium is blue, Chrome features colorful.
Differences between Chrome and Chromium
Tracking and Reporting Features
Google has added crash reporting functionality including the option to send usage statistics options. You will not find this feature in Chromium. When it comes to the data, Chrome delivers them to servers maintained by Google. It includes device, OS, settings including malware-related information.
Automatic Updates
Google Chrome employs GoogleUpdate on Windows (GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent and GoogleSoftwareUpdateDaemon on Mac) for the update of the software to the latest version. This feature is not available with Chromium. If you use Linux, updates are made available via the respective package repositories.
Sandbox
In Google Chrome, the Sandbox support is always available. If you work with Chromium on Linux, the Sandbox feature will be disabled in some version.
Media Codec support
The HTML5 audio/video codec support on Chromium is limited to non-proprietary codecs such as Theora, Vorbis, VP9, and WebM. Google Chrome provides support for non-free stuff such as AAC, H.264, and MP3.
Adobe Flash Plugin
Google Chrome provides support for Pepper API of Adobe Flash. Chromium doesn’t provide support for Adobe Flash by default.
Non-optional tracking
If you install Google Chrome, the installer generates a randomly generated token, which will be transferred to Google after the completion of the installation. It will measure the overall success rate. If the installer crashed, Google will know about it. Google also leverages RLZ identifier to track a user while searching on Google and also while using the address bar. The identifier store data in the form of encoded strings and will not contain any personal information. Google has open sourced the code used for decoding the strings.
Chrome Web Store
If you work with Google Chrome, you will be able to add extensions available from the Chrome Web Store. You cannot add extensions outside the store. This feature is applicable for all Windows and Mac platforms. Alternatively, you can add extensions via developer mode.
Conclusion
Google Chrome is used by all users on PC and mobile. The browser got wide attention because of the speed and performance. However, the use of web browser is a matter of personal importance. You can use any browser depending upon your requirements. We have seen that Microsoft Edge renders clear fonts when compared to Google Chrome.