If you're a little-advanced PC user, then you might have heard a lot about Chrome, Chromium, Chrome OS, etc. Those who use Windows PCs, nobody can be found there who don't know about Chrome or doesn't use Chrome browsers. But very few people know about Chrome OS and the Chromium project. Many people think that both chrome and chromium are the same things. Though it's right from a few points it's not 100% accurate. Today, we will discuss this chrome browser and Chromium project.
Chromium
Being chromium, in simple words, is an open source browser project. When Google released its web browser Google Chrome earlier in 2008, Google Chrome released the source code of the Chrome Open Source Project so that developers can use it.
You may think that Google also controls the Chromium project. But that's not right. Although the Chromium project is released by Google, it is a completely open source project, so anyone can participate in its development. However, Google's has full control of their Chrome browser or its entire development.
The biggest difference between the Google Chrome browser and Chromium is that, although Google's Chrome browser is built with the Chromium project, Google Chrome has some extra features that Google has customized itself.
For example, automatic updates, more video format support, etc. These exclusive features are not in the chromium project since it is open source project. As it's the responsibility of third-party developers to add and improve all features.
For example, you will see many famous browsers that use all Chromium engines and have been created using the source code of the Chromium project. Their browsing behaviors, responsiveness, speed are all like Google Chrome since they are built on the same engine.
However, each has its own unique features that their developers add to their will. For example, there is a built-in add-on blocker, which has built-in VPN, screenshot tool etc. But all are made using the same chromium projects. For example - Opera browser, UC Browser, Yandex browser and many more browsers etc.
What is there in Chrome which is not in chromium?
Now, it is understandable that Google Chrome itself is a browser created with the open source Chromium project. But like other developers, Google has customized their browser as they will and add/block features. Basically what Google has done; Only they have added the custom project to the Chromium project, so that it gets a lot of praise for the users.
Some of the features added by this type of Google are:
AAC, H.264, and MP3 support: Google has supported these popular media codec in Google Chrome. This allows you to play or stream media content of this codec with the help of Google Chrome. Because of the support of these codecs, Chrome supports almost all the media content on the Internet.
For example, most of the websites that use HTML5 will play almost all of the media files in the H.264 codec or stream them. But in chromium, these codecs are not played because it's not supported these codecs. However, because of the support of this codec in Google Chrome, it is very easy to play in Chrome.
Flash Player Support: Google has placed a sandboxed Pepper API in their Chrome browser, which can provide Flash Player support in the browser without Adobe Flash Player. These APIs can run content that requires a flash player to run. Google updates this API with every update of Chrome so that it always has the ability to use Flash Player latest version.
As a result, you will notice that if you install other chromium-based browsers, you have to install Adobe Flash Player at the same time to get Flash support. However, there is no need for Adobe Flash Player for Google Chrome.
Google Update: Those who use Google Chrome on Windows and Mac operating systems, they get another small background app that updates the Chrome browser in the silent background to the latest version.
Linux users can update Chrome with their software management tools. These regular updates from Google Chrome are rolling out to Google by making Google better rotate updates. You will not get the confirmation of such frequency updates on all chromium builds.
Extension Limitations and Crash Reports: Google Chrome has some limitations for Google extensions. For example, you can't install directly any external extension in the Chrome browser rather than Chrome WebSite. Only you can use Google's certified extensions, which are available in the Chrome Store.
However, since in Chromium, Google's doesn't have any control, so there is a lot of scopes available to easily sideload or install extensions. So chromium, somewhat unsecured compared to chrome.
Besides, Google Chrome has the opportunity to report crash due to any problem with Google Chrome. However, there is no dedicated team in the chromium to test and take care of your report. All of this depends on the developers.
Finally, about the availability. You can download and use Google Chrome browser directly from Google's website. Besides, you can download and install Chromium latest build from https://chromium.org. But I don't think there is any reason to use Chrome browser except for Chromium because of these disadvantages. However, you have a lot of options to use only a browser that is Chromium browser. Because there are many popular browsers that are made up of the Chromium project. Such as Opera Browser, UC Browser etc.