Introduced in 2009 by Google, Chromium is an open-source platform for an operating system and Web browser.
Chromium Operating System
The Linux-based ChromeOS used in Chromebook laptops and Chromebox desktops is a Chromium OS geared for Web applications, and the user interface is essentially a browser. Various versions have been introduced with names such as Cherry, Zero, Flow and Vanilla Login. In 2012, software that compiles and installs a build of Chromium for developers on a USB drive was released. See
Chromebook and
Cloud Ready.
Chromium Web Browser
Google's Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Brave, Opera and other Web browsers are based on Chromium code, including ChatGPT Atlas, a combination chatbot and browser. However, pre-compiled versions of Chromium can also be downloaded and used as a browser. See
ChatGPT Atlas.
Extensions
Chromium-based browsers use the same extensions, allowing users to switch browsers and keep the same functionality, at least most of the time. Unfortunately, browser-specific features and privacy/security restrictions may cause an extension to not work the same in all Chromium browsers. Of course, AI capabilities are available (see
Chromium AI extension). See
browser engine.
Chromium browser source code is available for Windows, Mac and Linux in two modules: the user interface and rendering engine. The user interface interacts with the engine and renders Web pages in a sandbox. If a Web app crashes, Chromium is able to cancel that operation and keep running. See
sandbox and
Web application.