Google Chrome And Chromium, How Are They Different?
- Chromium is the Open Source project from where Google Chrome is derived from. To put it straight, Google Chrome is a rebranded version of Chromium.
- Chromium browser support all the extensions that can be installed in Google Chrome.
- Google Chrome is 99.99% Chromium apart from minor changes like the inclusion of auto update.
- Chromium browser is like the bleeding edge of the Chromium project while Google Chrome is the more user focused version, rebranded version ie.
- But in reality, since Google Chrome closely follows Chromium with regard to changes, you will hardly find any difference between the two. Chromium browser updates almost comes daily, and in my experience, not even a single update has caused any serious trouble in the past one year.
- Google Chrome EULA(End User License Agreement) was a matter of huge controversy during the early days. Here is quick excerpt on what it was like - "you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services."
- Sounds scary isn't it. It resulted in a huge outcry which prompted Google to make Google Chrome EULA less creepy.
- Chromium on the other hand does not have any such issues. It just works.
- So, in effect Chromium is Google Chrome minus all the EULA and privacy relates issues. And we all know how easy it is to install Chromium browser in Ubuntu or in any other distro. So why can't we all just use Chromium instead of Google Chrome? Chromium has been my default web browser for more than an year now and I'm loving it.
- On a final note, we all have to understand one basic fact. Be it Chrome/Chromium/Firefox/IE, Google probably doesn't care which web browser you use. Google wants this internet eco system to grow and that is where their money is.
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