Google Chrome - what is it? Easily explained

Google Chrome is Google's browser alternative to Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Co. Read what is in the Google browser and what distinguishes it in this practical tip.

Google Chrome - what is it?

• Google Chrome is a web browser from the American company Google.
• The first version of the browser was released in 2008 and has been the strongest competitor to Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari for several years.
• With Google Chrome you can, among other things, access websites and load PDFs and HTML5-based content.
• With numerous extensions you can add more features to the browser.
• Google Chrome as a desktop application is available for Windows (32 and 64 bit), Linux and Mac.
• Since 2012, Google has also been offering mobile versions of its browser: in addition to a version for Android devices, there is a slightly customized app for iPhone and iPad.

Strengths and weaknesses of Google Chrome

• Google Chrome is the fastest browser currently on the market. To do this, Google relies on a multi-process architecture, among other things. This means that each tab runs in its own Windows process. If one website crashes, all others continue to run.
• This reveals a weakness in the browser: Google Chrome takes up a lot of memory when many tabs are open.
• The special feature of Google Chrome: Sign in with a Google account, the browser synchronizes searches, website suggestions, settings and bookmarks with Google Chrome on other devices that you use. The home page, languages ​​and themes can also be synchronized on request.
• Flash support and a PDF viewer are integrated in the browser and are automatically supplied with updates. This means that Chrome users are not dependent on third-party software such as Adobe Flash Player or Adobe Reader.
• Chrome sets another record in terms of security: In our security benchmark, the browser scored 16 out of 17 possible points. Nevertheless, Chrome is also not perfect here: Bugs repeatedly cause security gaps, which are quickly closed by Google once they are detected.
• A useful feature of Chrome is the built-in Google Translate. Websites written in a foreign language can be translated using the Translate button.

In the next article, we'll show you how Chrome performs compared to Mozilla Firefox.