his article is about the web browser. For the operating system, see Google Chrome OS.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome 10 dev displaying Wikipedia on Windows 7.

Developer(s) Google Inc.

Initial release September 2, 2008

Stable release 8.0.552.237 (January 12, 2011; 17 days ago) [+/−]

Preview release 9.0.597.83 (Beta) (January 25, 2011; 4 days ago)

10.0.648.6 (Dev) (January 26, 2011; 3 days ago)

[+/−]

Written in C++, Assembly, JavaScript

Operating system Linux

Mac OS X (10.5 and later, Intel only)

Windows (XP SP2 and later)

Engine WebKit (Based on KHTML)

Available in 50 languages
 Development status Active

Type Web browser

License
Google Chrome Terms of Service;[note 1]

WebKit: BSD/LGPL;

V8: BSD.

Website google.com/chrome

Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout
engine and application framework. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on 2
September 2008, and the public stable release was on 11 December 2008. The name is derived from
the graphical user interface frame, or "chrome", of web browsers. As of December 2010, Chrome was the
third most widely used browser, with 15.52% of worldwide usage share of web browsers, according to
Statcounter.[1]

In September 2008, Google released a large portion of Chrome's source code, including its V8 JavaScript
engine, as an open source project entitled Chromium.[2][3] This move enabled third-party developers to
study the underlying source code and to help convert the browser to the Mac OS X and Linux operating
systems. Google also expressed hope that other browsers would adopt V8 to improve web application
performance.[4] The Google-authored portion of Chromium is released under the permissiveBSD license,
[5]
which allows portions to be incorporated into both open source and closed source software programs.
[6]
Other portions of the source code are subject to a variety of open source licenses.[7] Chromium
implements the same feature set as Chrome, but lacks built-in automatic updates and Google branding,
and most noticeably has a blue-colored logo in place of the multicolored Google logo.[8]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 History

o 1.1 Announcement

o 1.2 Public release

o 1.3 Development

o 1.4 Release history

• 2 Features

o 2.1 Acid tests

o 2.2 Security
 o 2.3 Speed

o 2.4 Stability

o 2.5 User interface

o 2.6 Desktop shortcuts and

apps

 2.6.1 Chrome

Web Store

o 2.7 Aero peek capability

o 2.8 Extensions

o 2.9 Themes

o 2.10 Automatic web page

translation

o 2.11 Release channels and

updates

o 2.12 Usage tracking

o 2.13 About and Chrome

URLs

o 2.14 About:flags

• 3 Reception

• 4 See also

• 5 Notes

• 6 References

• 7 External links

[edit]History

For six years, Google's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt was against the idea of building an independent
web browser. He stated that "At the time, Google was a small company," and he didn't want to go through
"bruising browser wars". However, after co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page hired several Firefox
developers and built a demonstration of Chrome, Mr. Schmidt admitted that "It was so good that it
essentially forced me to change my mind."[9]

[edit]Announcement

The release announcement was originally scheduled for 3 September 2008, and a comic by Scott
McCloud was to be sent to journalists and bloggers explaining the features of and motivations for the new
browser.[10] Copies intended for Europe were shipped early and German blogger Philipp
Lenssen of Google Blogoscoped[11] made a scanned copy of the 38-page comic available on his website
after receiving it on 1 September 2008.[12] Google subsequently made the comic available on Google
Books[13] and mentioned it on their official blog along with an explanation for the early release.[14]

[edit]Public release

An early version of Chromium for Linux, explaining the difference between Chrome and Chromium

The browser was first publicly released for Microsoft Windows (XP and later versions only) on 2
September 2008 in 43 languages, officially a beta version.[15] Chrome quickly gained about 1% market
share despite being only available for Microsoft Windows.[14][16][17][18] After the initial surge, usage share
dropped until it hit a low of 0.69% in October 2008. It then started rising again and by December 2008,
Chrome again passed the 1% threshold.[19]

In early January 2009, CNET reported that Google planned to release versions of Chrome for Mac OS X
and Linux in the first half of the year.[20]The first official Chrome Mac OS X and Linux developer
previews[21] were announced on 4 June 2009 with a blog post[22] saying they were missing many features
and were intended for early feedback rather than general use.

In December 2009, Google released beta versions of Chrome for Mac OS X and Linux.[23][24] Google
Chrome 5.0, announced on 25 May 2010, was the first stable release to support all three platforms.[25]

Chrome was one of the twelve browsers offered to European Economic Area users of Microsoft
Windows in 2010.[26]

[edit]Development
Usage share of alternative web browsers (non-IE) according to Stat Counter.

Chrome was assembled from 25 different code libraries from Google and third parties such
as Mozilla's Netscape Portable Runtime, Network Security Services, NPAPI, as well as SQLite and a
number of other open-source projects.[27] TheJavaScript virtual machine was considered a sufficiently
important project to be split off (as was Adobe/Mozilla's Tamarin) and handled by a separate team
in Denmark coordinated by Lars Bak at Aarhus. According to Google, existing implementations were
designed "for small programs, where the performance and interactivity of the system weren't that
important," but web applications such as Gmail "are using the web browser to the fullest when it comes
to DOM manipulations and JavaScript", and therefore would significantly benefit from a JavaScript engine
that could work faster.

Chrome uses the WebKit rendering engine to display web pages, on advice from the Android team.
[13]
Like most browsers, Chrome was extensively tested internally before release with unit testing,
"automated user interface testing of scripted user actions" and fuzz testing, as well as WebKit's layout
tests (99% of which Chrome is claimed to have passed). New browser builds are automatically tested
against tens of thousands of commonly accessed websites inside the Google index within 20–30 minutes.
[13]

Chrome includes Gears, which adds features for web developers typically relating to the building of web
applications (including offline support).[13] However, Google is phasing out Gears in favor of HTML5.[28]

In December 2010 Google announced that to make deploying Chrome easier in a business environment
they would provide an official Chrome MSI package. The normal downloaded Chrome installer puts the
browser in the user's home directory and provides invisible background updates, but the MSI package will
allow installation at the system level, providing system administrators control over the update process.[29]

On 11 January 2011 the Chrome Product manager, Mike Jazayeri, announced that Chrome will no longer
support H.264 video codec for its HTML 5 player, citing the desire to bring Google Chrome more inline
with the currently available open codecs available in the Chromium project, which Chrome is based on.[30]

[edit]Release history

Color Meaning

Red Old release

Green Current stable release

Blue Current beta release

Purple Current dev release

Operating
Major Release V8 engine
WebKitversion[31] system Significant changes
version date version[32]
support

0.2.149 2008-09-08 0.3 Windows First release.

522 Improved plugin performance and reliability.

Spell checking for input fields. Improved web
0.3.154 2008-10-29
proxy performance and reliability. Tab and
window management updates.

Bookmark manager with import and export

support. Privacy section added to the
0.4.154 2008-11-24 525
application options. New blocked popup
notification. Security fixes.

1.0.154 2008-12-11 528 First stable release.

 35% faster JavaScript on the SunSpider
benchmark. Mouse wheel support. Full-screen
2.0.172 2009-05-24 530 0.4 mode. Full-page zoom. Form autofill. Sort
bookmarks by title. Tab docking to browser and
desktop edges. Basic Greasemonkey support.[33]

New "new tab" page for improved

customization. 25% faster
3.0.195 2009-10-12 532 1.2
JavaScript. HTML5 video and audio tag
support. Lightweight theming.

Extensions, bookmark synchronization,

enhanced developer tools, improved HTML5
support, performance improvements, full
4.0.249 2010-01-25
ACID3 pass, HTTP byte range support,
increased security, and experimental new anti-
532.5 1.3 reflected-XSS feature called "XSS Auditor".[34]

Translate infobar, new privacy features,

4.1.249 2010-03-17
disabled XSS Auditor.[35]

Windows Improved JavaScript performance, browser

Mac preference synchronizing, increased HTML5
Linux support (Geolocation APIs, App Cache, web
5.0.375 2010-05-25 533 2.1
sockets, and file drag-and-drop), revamped
bookmark manager, Adobe Flash
Player integrated.[36][37]

Updated and more streamlined UI, with

simplified Omnibox, new tab page and merged
menu buttons. Form Autofill. Expanded
synchronization support to include extensions
6.0.472 2010-09-02 534.3 2.2
and Autofill data. Support for WebM videos.
Improvements for performance and stability.
[38]
Built-in PDF support (disabled by default).
[39]

7.0.517 2010-10-21 534.7 2.3.11.22 Primarily a stabilizing release with hundreds of

bug fixes. Implemented HTML5 parsing
algorithm, File API, directory upload via input
tag. Mac OS X version
gained AppleScript support for UI automation.
[40]
Late binding enabled for SSL sockets: High
priority SSL requests are now always sent to
the server first. New options for managing
 cookies. Updated New Tab Page to enable
featuring of web applications.

Chrome Web Store, built-in PDF viewer that

8.0.552 2010-12-02 534.10
works inside Chrome's sandbox for increased
security, expanded synchronization support to
include web applications, and improved plug-in
handling.[41] This release added "about:flags" to
showcase experimental features such as
2.4.9.19 Chrome Instant, side tabs on Windows, Tabbed
Settings, Click to Play, background web
applications, Remoting, Disable outdated plug-
ins, XSS Auditor, Cloud Print Proxy, GPU
Accelerated Compositing, WebGL support for
the Canvas element, and a "Tab Overview"
mode (like exposé) for Mac.

WebGL enabled by default, Adobe

9.0.597 2011-01-04 534.13
Flash sandboxing on Windows and Chrome
Instant (à la Google Instant) option.[42] New
flags: Print Preview, GPU Accelerated
2.5.9.6
Compositing, GPU Accelerated Canvas
2D, Google Native Client, CRX-less Web
Apps, Web Page Prerendering, Experimental
Extension APIs, Disable hyperlink auditing.

Google Cloud Print sign-in interface enabled by

10.0.648 2011-01-26 534.16
default. Sandbox the GPU process (currently
Mac only, all platforms planned for v10 final).
[43]
3.0.9 Faster JavaScript performance due to
incorporation of Crankshaft, an improved
compiler for V8.[44]Options window changed to
a tab.

[edit]Features

Google Chrome aims to be secure, fast, simple[45] and stable. There are extensive differences from its
peers in Chrome's minimalistic user interface,[13] which is atypical of modern web browsers.[46] For
example, Chrome does not render RSS feeds.[47] Chrome's strength is its application performance
and JavaScript processing speed, both of which were independently verified by multiple websites to be
the swiftest among the major browsers of its time.[48][49] Many of Chrome's unique features had been
previously announced by other browser developers, but Google was the first to implement and publicly
release them.[50] For example, its most prominent graphical user interface (GUI) innovation, the merging of
the address barand search bar (the Omnibox), was first announced by Mozilla in May 2008 as a planned
feature for Firefox.[51]

[edit]Acid tests

The results of the Acid3 test on Google Chrome 4.0

The first release of Google Chrome passed both the Acid1 and Acid2 tests. Beginning with version 4.0,
Chrome passed all aspects of theAcid3 test.[52] With any browser codebase, Acid3 compliance can
change over time.

[edit]Security

Chrome periodically retrieves updates of two blacklists (one for phishing and one for malware), and warns
users when they attempt to visit a harmful site. This service is also made available for use by others via a
free public API called "Google Safe Browsing API". Google notifies the owners of listed sites who may not
be aware of the presence of the harmful software.[13]

Chrome will typically allocate each tab to fit into its own process to "prevent malware from installing itself"
and prevent what happens in one tab from affecting what happens in another; however, the actual
process-allocation model is more complex.[53] Following the principle of least privilege, each process is
stripped of its rights and can compute, but cannot write files or read from sensitive areas (e.g. documents,
desktop)—this is similar to the "Protected Mode" used by Internet Explorer on Windows
Vista and Windows 7. The Sandbox Team is said to have "taken this existing process boundary and
made it into a jail";[54] for example, malicious software running in one tab is supposed to be unable to sniff
credit card numbers entered in another tab, interact with mouse inputs, or tell Windows to "run an
executable on start-up" and it will be terminated when the tab is closed.[13] This enforces a
simple computer security model whereby there are two levels of multilevel security (user and sandbox)
and the sandbox can only respond to communication requests initiated by the user.[55]

Typically, plugins such as Adobe Flash Player are not standardized and as such, cannot be sandboxed
as tabs can be. These often need to run at, or above, the security level of the browser itself. To reduce
exposure to attack, plugins are run in separate processes that communicate with the renderer, itself
operating at "very low privileges" in dedicated per-tab processes. Plugins will need to be modified to
operate within this software architecture while following the principle of least privilege.[13] Chrome supports
the Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI),[56] but does not support the embedding
of ActiveX controls.[56] On 30 March 2010 Google announced that the latest development version of
Chrome would include Adobe Flash as an integral part of the browser, eliminating the need to download
and install it separately. Flash would be kept up to date as part of Chrome's own updates.[57] Java
applet support is available in Chrome with Java 6 update 12 and above.[58] Support for Java under Mac
OS X was provided by a Java Update released on May 18, 2010.[59]

A private browsing feature called Incognito mode is provided that prevents the browser from storing
any history information or cookies from the websites visited.[60] Chrome warns on the new tab page that
"this feature does not make your actions on the internet invisible", however, and the browser advises the
user to be wary of:

 Websites that collect or share information about you

 Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit

 Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys

 Surveillance by secret agents

 People standing behind you

Incognito mode is similar to the private browsing feature introduced with Apple's Safari, Mozilla Firefox
3.5, Opera 10.5, and Internet Explorer 8.

On 12 January 2011 versions of Chrome prior to version 8.0.552.237 were identified by US-CERT as
"contain[ing] multiple memory corruption vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities include a stack corruption
vulnerability in the PDF renderer component, two memory corruption vulnerabilities in the Vorbis decoder,
and a video frame size error resulting in a bad memory access...By convincing a user to view a specially
crafted HTML document, PDF file, or video file, an attacker can cause the application to crash or possibly
execute arbitrary code." This vulnerability was publicized after Chrome version 8.0.552.237 was released
fixing these problems to alert users to upgrade versions as soon as possible.[61]

[edit]Speed

The JavaScript virtual machine used by Chrome, the V8 JavaScript engine, has features such
as dynamic code generation, hidden class transitions, and precise garbage collection.[13]Tests by Google
in September 2008 showed that V8 was about twice as fast as Firefox 3.0 and the WebKit nightlies.[citation
needed]
Several websites performed benchmark tests using the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark tool as well as
Google's own set of computationally intense benchmarks, which include ray tracing and constraint
solving.[62] They unanimously reported that Chrome performed much faster than all competitors against
which it had been tested, including Safari (for Windows),Firefox 3.0, Internet Explorer 7, Opera,
and Internet Explorer 8.[63][64][65][66][67][68] However in more recent independent tests of JavaScript
performance, Chrome has been scoring just behind Opera's Presto engine since it was updated in
version 10.5.[69]

On September 3, 2008, Mozilla responded by stating that their own TraceMonkey JavaScript engine (then
in beta), was faster than Chrome's V8 engine in some tests.[70][71][72] John Resig, Mozilla's JavaScript
evangelist, further commented on the performance of different browsers on Google's own suite,
commenting on Chrome's "decimating" [sic] of the other browsers, but he questioned whether Google's
suite was representative of real programs. He stated that Firefox 3.0 performed poorly
on recursion intensive benchmarks, such as those of Google, because the Mozilla team had not
implemented recursion-tracing yet.[73]

Two weeks after Chrome's launch, the WebKit team announced a new JavaScript engine, SquirrelFish
Extreme,[74] citing a 36% speed improvement over Chrome's V8 engine.[75][76][77]

Chrome uses DNS prefetching to speed up website lookups, as do Firefox[78] and Safari.[79] This feature is
available in Internet Explorer as an extension, and in Opera as a UserScript.

Chrome utilizes the faster SPDY protocol designed to replace HTTP[80][81] when communicating with
Google services, such as Google Search, Gmail, Chrome sync and when serving Google's ads. Google
acknowledges that the use of SPDY is enabled in the communication between Chrome and
Google's SSL-enabled servers.[82] SPDY sessions can be inspected in Chrome at the special
URL chrome://net-internals/#events&q=type:SPDY_SESSION%20is:active.

[edit]Stability

The Gears team implemented a multi-process architecture in Chrome,[83] similar to Loosely Coupled
Internet Explorer (LCIE) implemented by Internet Explorer 8.[84] By default, a separate process is allocated
to each site instance and plugin, a procedure referred to as process isolation.[85] This prevents tasks from
interfering with each other, increasing security and stability. An attacker successfully gaining access to
one application cannot gain access to others,[86] and failure in one instance results in a Sad Tab screen of
death, similar to the well-known Sad Mac, but only a single tab crashes instead of the whole application.
This strategy exacts a fixed per-process cost up front, but results in less memory bloat overall as
fragmentation is confined to each instance and no longer requires further memory allocations.
[87]
Safari[88] and Firefox[89] are also adopting this architecture in upcoming versions, meaning that most
common browsers will use a multi-process architecture in the near future.
Chrome includes a process management utility called Task Manager which allows the user to see what
sites and plugins are using the most memory, downloading the most bytes and over-utilizing the CPU"
and provides the ability to terminate them.[13]

[edit]User interface

Google Chrome's user interface on Mac OS X

By default, the main user interface includes back, forward, refresh/cancel and menu buttons. A home
button is not shown by default, but can be added through the preferences menu to take the user to the
new tab page or a custom home page.

Tabs are the primary component of Chrome's user interface and as such, have been moved to the top of
the window rather than below the controls. This subtle change contrasts with many existing tabbed
browsers which are based on windows and contain tabs. Tabs (including their state) can be transferred
seamlessly between window containers by dragging. Each tab has its own set of controls, including
theOmnibox.[13]

The Omnibox is the URL box at the top of each tab, which combines the functionality of both the Address
bar and search box. If a user enters the URL of a site previously searched from, Chrome allows
pressing Tab to search the site again directly from the Omnibox. When a user starts typing in the
Omnibox, Chrome provides suggestions for previously visited sites (based on the URL or in-page text),
popular websites (not necessarily visited before – powered by Google Suggest), and popular searches.
Although Google Suggest can be turned off, suggestions based on previously visited sites cannot be
turned off. Chrome will also autocomplete the URLs of sites visited often.[13] If a user types several
keywords into the Omnibox and press enter, Chrome will conduct the search using the default search
engine.

When Google Chrome is not maximized, the tab bar appears directly under the title bar. When
maximized, the tabs become flush with the top of the titlebar. Like other browsers, it has a full-screen
mode that hides the operating system's interface as well as the browser chrome.
One of Chrome's differentiating features is the New Tab Page, which can replace the browser home
page and is displayed when a new tab is created. Originally, this showed thumbnails of the nine most
visited web sites, along with frequent searches, recent bookmarks, and recently closed tabs; similar
to Internet Explorer and Firefox with Google Toolbar 6, or Opera'sSpeed Dial.[13] In Google Chrome 2.0,
the New Tab Page was updated to allow users to hide thumbnails they didn't want to appear.[90]

Starting in version 3.0, the New Tab Page was revamped to display thumbnails of the eight most visited
web sites. The thumbnails could be rearranged, pinned, and removed. Alternatively, a list of text links
could be displayed instead of thumbnails. It also features a "Recently closed" bar that shows recently
closed tabs and a "tips" section that displays hints and tricks for using the browser.[91]

Chrome includes a bookmark manager that can be opened from a menu. Adding the command-
line option: --bookmark-menu adds a bookmarks button to the right of the Omnibox that can be used in
place of the bookmarks bar.[92] However, this functionality is currently unavailable on the Linux and Mac
platforms.[93]

Popup windows are associated with the tab they came from and will not appear outside the tab unless the
user explicitly drags them out.[13]

Google Chrome's preferences window has three tabs: Basic, Personal Stuff, and Under the Hood.
The Basic tab includes options for the home page, search engine, and default browser. The Personal
Stuff tab lets users configure synchronization, saved passwords, form autofill, browsing data, and themes.
The Under the Hood tab allows changing network, privacy, download, and security settings.

Chrome does not have a status bar, but displays loading activity and hover-over information via a status
bubble that pops up at the bottom left of the relevant page, excluding hovering over links in image maps.

For web developers, Chrome features an element inspector similar to the one in Firebug.[78]

As part of Google's April Fools' Day jokes, a special build of Chrome was released on 1 April 2009 with
the additional feature of being able to render pages in anaglyph 3D.[94]

[edit]Desktop shortcuts and apps

Chrome allows users to make local desktop shortcuts that open web applications in the browser. The
browser, when opened in this way, contains none of the regular interface except for the title bar, so as not
to "interrupt anything the user is trying to do." This allows web applications to run alongside
local software (similar to Mozilla Prism and Fluid).[13]

This feature, according to Google, will be enhanced with the Chrome Web Store, a one-stop web-based
web applications directory which opened in December 2010.[95][96]
[edit]Chrome Web Store
Announced on December 7, 2010, the Chrome Web Store allows users to install applications (which are
essentially shortcuts) to popular and highly used web pages and/or games. The themes and extensions
have also been tightly integrated into the new store, allowing users to searched the entire catalog of
Chrome extras.[97]

Criticism of the idea came quickly. Ryan Paul of Ars Technica said on 9 December 2010: "The way that
users consume applications in the desktop and mobile world is fundamentally different than they way that
they do it on the Web—where paywalls are often reviled and there is little distinction between content and
software. In such an environment, does the application store model make any sense? We are not
convinced...Aside from gaming, the idea of an application store in a Web browser—where installation is
little more than bookmarking—seems counterintuitive and leaves us with the impression that the entire
exercise is a solution in search of a problem."[97]

[edit]Aero peek capability

Google has included aero peek capability for each tab on Windows 7. This has not been added by default
but can be user enabled,[98] resulting in a displayed thumbnail image of the tab. This will create similar
functioning to that which is already included in IE8, Firefox and other browsers.

Negative responses from beta users on the inefficiency of aero peek tabs has prevented Google from
including this as a default function.[99]

[edit]Extensions

On 9 September 2009, Google enabled extensions by default on Chrome's Dev channel, and provided
several sample extensions for testing.[100] In December, the Google Chrome extension gallery beta began
with over 300 extensions.[24][101]

Along with Google Chrome 4.0, the extension gallery was officially launched on 25 January 2010,
containing over 1500 extensions.[102]

As of 19 August 2010, the extension gallery featured over 6000 extensions,[103] including official
extensions from The Independent,[104] CEOP,[105] Transport for London,[106] Cricinfo,[107]Web of
Trust[108] and FIFA.[109]

[edit]Themes

Starting with Google Chrome 3.0, users can install themes to alter the appearance of the browser.
[110]
Many free third-party themes are provided in an online gallery,[111] accessible through a "Get themes"
button in Chrome's options.[112] Even more themes are available in Chrome extension gallery.

[edit]Automatic web page translation

Starting with Google Chrome 4.1 the application added a built-in translation bar using Google Translate.
Translation is currently available for 52 languages.[113]

[edit]Release channels and updates

On 8 January 2009 Google introduced a new release system with three distinct channels: Stable, Beta,
and Developer preview (called the "Dev" channel). Before this change there were only two channels: Beta
and Developer preview. All previous Developer channel users were moved to the Beta channel. The
reason given by Google is that the Developer channel builds are less stable and polished than those that
Developer channel users were getting during Google Chrome's Beta period. The stable channel will be
updated with features and fixes once they have been thoroughly tested in the Beta channel, and the Beta
channel will be updated roughly monthly with stable and complete features from the Developer channel.
The Developer channel is where ideas get tested (and sometimes fail) and can be very unstable at times.
[114][115]
On 22 July 2010 Google announced it will ramp up the speed it will release new stable versions;
they will shorten the release cycles from quarterly to 6 weeks.[116] The faster release cycle brought a fourth
channel: the "Canary" release; the name refers to using canaries in coal mines, so if a change "kills"
Chrome Canary, they'll block it from the developer build. Canary will be "the most bleeding-edge official
version of Chrome and somewhat of a mix between Chrome dev and the Chromium snapshot builds".
Canary releases run side-by-side with any other channel; it is not linked to the other Google Chrome
installation and can therefore run different synchronization profiles, themes, and browser preferences.
[117]
It cannot be set as the default browser.

Chrome automatically keeps itself up to date. The details differ by platform. On Windows, it uses Google
Updater, and autoupdate can be controlled via Group Policy,[118] or users can download a standalone
version that does not autoupdate.[119][120] On Mac, it uses Google Update Service, and autoupdate can be
controlled via the Mac OS X "defaults" system.[121] On Linux, it lets the system's normal package
management system supply the updates.

Google uses its Courgette algorithm to provide the binary difference of the user's current version in
relation to the new version that's about to be automatically updated to. These tiny updates are well suited
to minor security fixes and allow Google to push new versions of Chrome to users quickly, thereby
reducing the window of vulnerability of newly discovered security flaws.[122]

[edit]Usage tracking
Chrome sends details about its usage to Google through both optional and non-optional user tracking
mechanisms.[123]

Tracking methods
 Method[124] Information sent When Optional?

Installation Randomly generated token

included in installer. Used to On
No
measure success rate of Google
installation
Chrome.[125]

RLZ
 On
identifier[126]
Google
search
Encoded string, according to query
Google, contains non-identifying
information how Chrome was
downloaded and its install week,  On Partial[note 2]
[125]
and is used to measure first
promotional campaigns.
[125]
Google provides the source launch
code to decode this string.[127]
and first
use of
address
bar[125]
clientID[128] Unique identifier along with logs
Unknown Yes[129]
of usage metrics and crashes.
Suggest[128] Text typed into the address bar While typing Yes
Page not Upon
found receiving
Text typed into the address bar "Server not Yes
found"
response
Bug tracker Details about crashes and failures Unknown Yes[129]

Some of the tracking mechanisms can be optionally enabled and disabled through the installation
interface[citation needed] and through the browser's options dialog.[128] Unofficial builds, such as SRWare
Iron and ChromePlus, seek to remove these features from the browser altogether.[124] The RLZ feature is
not included in the Chromium browser either.[130]

In March 2010, Google devised a new method to collect installation statistics: the unique ID token
included with Chrome is now only used for the first connection that Google Update makes to its server.
This sole remaining non-optional user tracking mechanism is removed following the server ping.[131]

[edit]About and Chrome URLs

Chrome has special URLs that load application-specific pages, instead of websites or files on disk.[132]
  about:about – List of about pages.
 about:appcache-internals – HTML 5 Application Cache diagnostics.
 about:blank – Shows a blank HTML document.
 about:cache – A list of all the web pages cached by Google Chrome.
 about:conflicts – Modules loaded into the main process and modules registered to load at a later
point.
 about:crash – Crash the active tab.
 about:credits – Credits, licenses, and links for all software used to make Chrome.
 about:dns – DNS prefetching engine diagnostics.
 about:gpu – Graphics card information, used to assist in GPU acceleration debugging.
 about:histograms – Detailed technical metrics.
 about:inducebrowsercrashforrealz – Crashes the Google Chrome browser.
 about:memory – Memory used.
 about:net-internals – Network diagnostics.
 about:flags – Experimental browser features.[133]
 about:plugins – List of installed plugins (not extensions), with disable support for diagnostics.
 about:shorthang – Hangs the tab's process, making it become unresponsive.
 about:sync – Synchronization engine diagnostics.
 about:tcmalloc – Stats as of last page load.
 about:terms – Terms of service.
 about:version, about: – Version of Chrome, WebKit, V8, and the command line options used to
launch.
 chrome://bookmarks – Bookmark manager.
 chrome://downloads – Download manager.
 chrome://extensions – Extensions manager.
 chrome://history – Page history.
 chrome://newtab – New Tab page.
 chrome://print – Print Preview.
 chrome://settings – Settings manager.
 chrome://view-http-cache – Cached HTTP objects.
 view-cache:url – Shows you some under-the-hood cache details.
 view-source:url – Displays the source code of the URL specified.

[edit]About:flags
Originally called about:labs, "about:flags" is a place in Google Chrome developer and beta builds that
contains experimental features. Features available in the developer builds include:

 Side Tabs: Adds a "Use Side Tabs" entry to the tabstrip's context menu. Use this to toggle
between tabs on top (default) and tabs on the side. Useful on widescreen monitors.
 Remoting: Enable Remoting Host support. (Currently non-functional)
 Disable outdated plug-ins: Automatically disables plug-ins with known security vulnerabilities and
offers update links for them.
 XSS Auditor: Enables WebKit's XSS Auditor (cross-site scripting protection). This feature aims to
protect you from certain attacks of malicious web sites. It improves your security, but it might not be
compatible with all web sites.
 Check for known conflicts with 3rd party modules: Enables a background check that warns you
when a software incompatibility is detected (ie. 3rd party modules that crash the browser).
 CRX-less Web Apps: Enables support for installing Chrome apps that are deployed using a
manifest file on a web page, rather than by packaging the manifest and icons into a crx file.
 GPU Accelerated Canvas 2D: Enables higher performance of canvas tags with a 2D context by
rendering using Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) hardware.
 Print Preview: Enables an in-tab preview of a print operation. (Currently non-functional)
 Native Client: Enable support for Native Client.
 Web Page Prerendering: Speculatively prerenders complete webpages in the background for a
faster browsing experience.
 Experimental Extension APIs: Enables experimental extension APIs. Note that the extension
gallery doesn't allow you to upload extensions that use experimental APIs.
 Click-to-Play: Click on a blocked plug-in to run it.
 Disable hyperlink auditing: Disable sending hyperlink auditing pings.
 Experimental location features: Enables experimental extensions to the geolocation feature.
Includes using operating system location APIs (where available), and sending additional local network
configuration data to the Google location service to provide higher accuracy positioning.
 Instant Type: Configures the behavior of instant.

[edit]Reception

Further information: Usage share of web browsers and Browser wars

Usage share of web browsers according to Stat Counter, Chrome is 11.92% in October 2010.

In 2008, The Daily Telegraph's Matthew Moore summarizes the verdict of early reviewers: "Google
Chrome is attractive, fast and has some impressive new features, but may not—yet—be a threat to its
Microsoft rival."[134]

Initially, Microsoft reportedly "played down the threat from Chrome" and "predicted that most people will
embrace Internet Explorer 8." Opera Software said that "Chrome will strengthen the Web as the biggest
application platform in the world."[135] But by February 25, 2010, BusinessWeek had reported that "For the
first time in years, energy and resources are being poured into browsers, the ubiquitous programs for
accessing content on the Web. Credit for this trend—a boon to consumers—goes to two parties. The first
is Google, whose big plans for the Chrome browser have shaken Microsoft out of its competitive torpor
and forced the software giant to pay fresh attention to its own browser, Internet Explorer. Microsoft all but
ceased efforts to enhance IE after it triumphed in the last browser war, sending Netscape to its doom.
Now it's back in gear."[136] Mozilla said that Chrome's introduction into the web browser market comes as
"no real surprise", that "Chrome is not aimed at competing with Firefox", and furthermore that it should not
affectGoogle's revenue relationship with Mozilla.[137][138]

Chrome's design bridges the gap between desktop and so-called "cloud computing." At the touch of a
button, Chrome lets you make a desktop, Start menu, or Quick Launch shortcut to any Web page or Web
application, blurring the line between what's online and what's inside your PC. For example, I created a
desktop shortcut for Google Maps. When you create a shortcut for a Web application, Chrome strips
away all of the toolbars and tabs from the window, leaving you with something that feels much more like
a desktop application than like a Web application or page.
—PC World[139]

On 9 September 2008, when Chrome was still in beta, the German Federal Office for Information
Security (BSI) issued a statement about their first examination of Chrome, expressing a concern over the
prominent download links on Google's German web page, because "beta versions should not be
employed for general use applications" and browser manufacturers should provide appropriate
instructions regarding the use of pre-released software. They did, however, praise the browser's technical
contribution to improving security on the web.[140]

Concern about Chrome's optional usage collection and tracking have been noted in several publications.
[141][142]
On 2 September 2008, a CNET news item[143] drew attention to a passage in the Terms of Service
statement for the initial beta release, which seemed to grant to Google a license to all content transferred
via the Chrome browser. The passage in question was inherited from the general Google terms of
service.[144] On the same day, Google responded to this criticism by stating that the language used was
borrowed from other products, and removed the passage in question from the Terms of Service.
[145]
Google noted that this change would "apply retroactively to all users who have downloaded Google
Chrome."[146] There was subsequent concern and confusion about whether and what information the
program communicates back to Google. The company stated that usage metrics are only sent when
users opt in by checking the option "help make Google Chrome better by automatically sending usage
statistics and crash reports to Google" when the browser is installed.[147]

The optional suggestion service included in Google Chrome has been criticized because it provides the
information typed into the Omnibox to Google before the user even hits return. This allows Google to
provide URL suggestions, but also provides Google with web usage information tied to an IP address.
The feature can be selected off in the preferences-under the hood-privacy box.[148]