How the Google Chrome Browser Works

When Google launched the Chrome browser in 2008, it was dramatically different from the big two of the time: Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox. Both of these browser giants packed the tops of their windows with buttons and menus for searching subjects, reloading pages, managing bookmarks, printing pages and other actions you might want to take while you're on the Web. You could even add more features to these browsers to customize your browsing experience.

With the Chrome browser, Google took a completely different approach to the browsing experience. Google's vision for Chrome has been to turn the Web browser from a passive means of viewing and listening to information to an interactive portal optimized for Web apps. To accomplish that, Google needed to make Chrome more streamlined, with less emphasis on the browser itself and more emphasis on the power of the Web [source: Chrome].

Web users were already familiar with the simplicity of Google's home page: a big white page with the Google logo, a simple text box for entering search terms and a couple of buttons to launch the search. The Chrome browser reflects that same simplicity. Chrome has a window with the Web page itself and two toolbars: an address bar with the four most commonly used control buttons (back, forward, reload, and home) and a bookmarks bar for managing links to the sites you visit most. Chrome's only built-in menus are its settings menu, accessible using the small wrench icon on the far right, and an "Other bookmarks" menu for bookmarks not shown on your toolbar.

As of this writing, nearly three years following the first Chrome release, Chrome has maintained its simplicity. It also prompted IE and Firefox to simplify their own interfaces. As with IE and Firefox, you can add more features to the Chrome browser by installing extensions. We'll take a closer look at extensions later alongside a more unique Chrome feature: apps from the Chrome Web Store. You can install and use these apps in your Chrome browser the same way you might install apps on your iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device.

Now that you know Chrome's primary goal, let's look at how you can integrate the browser into your user experience.

When you first open the Google Chrome browser, you'll have little more than an address bar and a few links to get you started. If you're already comfortable with Web browsing, you'll probably just enter a Web address and go from there. As you continue using Chrome, though, you'll want to be familiar with these other functions:

Like other browsers, Chrome has a bookmark manager. To access it, click the Settings menu and select "Bookmark manager." Chrome opens its bookmark manager in a separate browser tab as if it were a Web page. Besides editing and deleting bookmarks there, you can also add folders and drag and drop both bookmarks and folders to organize them into a hierarchy. Chrome saves your changes as you make them, so just close the browser tab when you're finished.

When your bookmarks bar fills up, Chrome displays a double-arrow icon on the right. Click that icon to show the bookmarks that don't fit in the available space. Here's a useful tip to save space: Add folders to your bookmarks bar. Folders under your bookmarks bar become drop-down menus of related bookmarks. This keeps your bookmarks easy to access without filling up your bookmarks bar.

Those are the basics for Chrome! Google has truly kept the interface simple with a focus on getting you from page to page efficiently. But what if you want more from your browser than just managing bookmarks? Chances are Chrome has what you need either built in or as an add-on feature. Let's look at the built-in features hiding in that Settings menu.

Chrome's simple interface doesn't mean it's lacking in features. To see what else the Chrome browser has to offer, let's start with some of the things you'll find in the Settings menu:

In addition to these options, you'll also see a few unique items in the "Tools" submenu. The "Task Manager" is equivalent to the "View background pages" option, and "Clear browsing data" and "View source" are common to most Web browsers. The remaining choices relate to things we're about to cover on the next page: extensions, applications and developer tools.

An extension is an extra feature designed to plug in to your Web browser and function as if it was a native part of the browser software. The top three browsers vary in how they use terminology around extensions:

In Chrome, as in other browsers, extensions work alongside the browser's built-in features to enhance your Web experience. Since each extension has a specific purpose, you may be performing a specific task in the browser before you see the extension in action. For example, if you're using the Shopping Assistant extension, the price comparison bar, which searches other Web sites for the same product, won't appear at the bottom of the browser window unless you're shopping for a product at a competitor's site.

While extensions are often comparable across browsers, Chrome has a unique option that other browsers have yet to replicate: apps. Earlier, we talked about one of Google's primary goals for Chrome: Optimize the browser for running Web applications. With Chrome apps, Google takes that goal a step further. Today, Chrome runs its own virtual computing environment for Web apps, and Chrome apps take advantage of that processing power. Chrome apps install and run in Chrome as if you were installing the software on your computer or smartphone.

To access Chrome apps, just open a new browser tab. On each New Tab page, Chrome displays shortcuts to all the apps you have installed. Click the icon for one of these apps to get started. If you need to pause from using the app to do something else, you have the option of leaving the tab open where you can click back to it at any time. If you need to adjust an app's settings or remove it altogether, move your mouse over the app to highlight it and click the wrench icon that appears in the upper right of that highlight block.

So where do Chrome apps and extensions come from? Extend your reading to the next page to find out.

Google provides the Android Market, where you can download and install apps for Android smartphones and tablets. The Chrome Web Store is the Android Market equivalent for Chrome apps. Visit the Chrome Web Store (chrome.google.com/webstore) to search and download Chrome extensions, apps and themes. Note that you'll need to be signed on to your Google account to use the Chrome Web Store, even if you only download free content.

Besides extensions and apps, you can also find Chrome themes at the Chrome Web Store. Like desktop themes for your computer, Chrome themes change the appearance of the interface. Most Chrome themes feature a background image which is mostly hidden unless you're viewing the New Tab Page. If you ever need to reset your browser to its default theme, go to Settings, select Options, click Personal Stuff, and use the "Reset to default theme" button.

Google has opened extension and app development to the public through its Chrome Developer Dashboard (chrome.google.com/webstore/developer/dashboard). To become a developer, sign in with your Google account and use the instructions and links at the Developer Dashboard to add developer account information. As a Chrome developer, you can create and publish extensions, apps and themes to the Chrome Web Store.

Though Google strives to make the Chrome browser itself stable and reliable, user feedback is the primary means of evaluating the community-contributed contents of the Chrome Web Store. When you shop there, read the reviews before you click the download button so you know what to expect. Also, consider contributing your own review after you've had a chance to download and use the new content.

If your Chrome browser crashes, hangs or otherwise misbehaves, consider the extensions, apps and themes you're using and whether those may be to blame. Don't hesitate to disable or remove any content that isn't working. If you want to help the developers make improvements, let them know about your experiences. Many developers welcome this direct feedback by adding an app support link on the content's main page in the Chrome Web Store.

At this point, you've read about all of Chrome's major features and advantages, including the wealth of additional content available from the Chrome Web Store. Next, let's switch directions and look at Chrome's speed.

Beyond its simplicity and extensibility, Chrome browser's most acclaimed advantage is its speed. The browser can't make your Internet connection faster, but it can make faster work of loading the Web pages you access. In an advertising campaign in 2010, Google demonstrated this using some creative homemade contraptions, comparing the browser's speed to the speed of sound waves, lightning and a potato gun. In each case, the browser was just as fast (or faster) at loading the page as the contraption was at performing its split-second task.

The big speed boost for Chrome comes from its V8 JavaScript Engine. JavaScript (not to be confused with the Java programming language) is a scripting language added to a page's code that allows that Web page make use of your browser's processing power. For example, a Web page can use JavaScript to show a certain menu when you move your mouse over a picture, or to submit the data you've entered in a form. JavaScript is so widely used on the Web today that nearly every browser includes some kind of JavaScript engine to run the code.

The JavaScript associated with a Web page is loaded when you load the page. Thus, if the browser wants to load pages quickly, it needs a fast JavaScript engine working behind the scenes. The V8 JavaScript Engine is reportedly the fastest JavaScript engine available in any Web browser. V8 is an open source engine written in C++ for use in Chrome. In a video about V8, Google engineer Lars Bak describes what makes V8 faster than other JavaScript engines from the programmer's point of view [source: Google]:

If you're skeptical about Google's claims about V8's speed, or if you just want to see the speed boost in action, you can test it yourself just by visiting http://v8.googlecode.com/svn/data/benchmarks/current/run.html. As soon as you open the Web page, your browser runs a series of tasks simulating the background processes that happen when you're using Web pages. Chrome developers published these tests, known as the V8 Benchmark Suite, so that you could compare the speed of JavaScript engine between browsers. To make the side-by-side comparison, open the V8 Benchmark Suite in Chrome and in one or more other Web browsers (Firefox, IE, Safari, and so on), and compare the numerical results when the scripts finish running [sources: Google, Shankland].

Now that you know what makes Chrome so fast, what other advantages does Chrome have to offer? Next, let's see what Chrome can do to keep you safe while you're online.

If you're browsing the great unknown of the Web, one good feature to have in your Web browser is security. You probably don't want the browser to share your personal information without your permission. You also might want the browser to protect you if you stumble upon a malicious Web site.

Google has leveraged its power as a search engine to create its Safe Browsing technology. Safe Browsing will automatically warn you if Chrome detects that a site you're visiting contains malware or phishing. Other Web browsers offer similar safeguards, but they don't have the immense, constantly updated database of Web pages and their contents that Google does. For more on Web dangers, see our articles How to Avoid Spyware and How Phishing Works.

Another Chrome security feature is sandboxing. Sandboxing is a technical term meaning to separate processes out into independent spaces to see how they function individually. Chrome handles its workload as a series of multiple processes rather than as part of one large browser process. Each time you open a Web page, Chrome launches one or more new processes to run the scripts on that page. Also, each Chrome extension and app runs in its own process. Chrome implements sandboxing through its multi-process architecture. You can see a list of each process Chrome is running by clicking Settings, Tools and then Task Manager.

The security advantage in sandboxing comes from how Chrome implements this feature in Windows. Chrome controls the access token for each process in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. On these operating systems, an access token for a process allows that process access to important information about your system, like its files and registry keys. Chrome intercepts each access token from the processes launched from the browser, and it modifies that token to limit its access to that information.

So, in Windows, Chrome's sandboxing helps block Web pages that try to install malware, capture your personal information or obtain data from your hard drive. It also prevents a page that's open in one browser tab from affecting what happens in other tabs. The drawback of sandboxing, though, is that it can't catch everything. A sandboxed process might still be able to access less secure file systems. It's also likely to miss protecting registry keys and files managed by third party software, like a game or chat program that isn't native to Windows [source: Sylvain].

In addition to these active security features, Chrome's auto-updates ensure that the browser checks for its own security updates at regular intervals. Security updates ensure that browsers are not vulnerable to Web sites that could exploit any known bugs in the software. Unlike IE and Firefox, which prompt you to install the latest updates when they're available, Chrome updates itself automatically with no interaction necessary.

So far, you've read about Chrome's advantages in speed and security and Google's goal to optimize the browser for Web applications. Next, let's zoom in on the Chrome basics to see just how simple this browser really is.

Most reviews of Chrome since its first 2008 release have raved about its speed, simplicity and readiness for a Web-centric world of cloud computing. With so many positive features going for it, does Chrome have any shortcomings?

Even the hottest thing since sliced bread won't necessarily make a better sandwich. Chrome does face a few challenges. One of its most prevalent issues is getting Web site developers and Web application programmers to test for compatibility of their sites with Chrome. Leaving Chrome out of compatibility tests made sense back in 2009 when the browser was still new and had a much smaller share of Web users. Now that Chrome has over a fourth of the market, though, developers are gradually starting to make Chrome a priority. As of this writing, there are still many sites that will not render properly, will warn you about browser compatibility, or will even refuse to load at all if you're using Chrome rather than another browser.

While Chrome developers are quick to address any vulnerabilities, the browser is still coming into its own with features and functions. For example, Chrome only recently finished phasing out its homegrown project Gears as its underlying programming interface (favoring the more widely recognized HTML5 standard instead). Also, Chrome apps and the Chrome Web Store are still new with no way to predict their success or their role in boosting Chrome to the top spot in browser popularity.

Finally, Chrome's simplicity could be a double-edge sword for some users. Simplicity is an advantage for users who want a clean, clutter-free interface for browsing. It's not so great, though, for the less tech-savvy who are used to having certain toolbars and buttons in predictable locations in the interface. Though this does seem like a possible shortcoming for Chrome, the fact that IE and Firefox have followed the trend toward a simpler interface suggests it's not an important concern for most users.

Throughout this article, we've looked at the innovative features of the Chrome browser, its advantages over other Web browsers and the challenges it faces. With Chrome, Google has become a trendsetter for browser design and set a high bar for browsing performance. If you're as ready as we are to see where Chrome goes from here, browse on to the next page for lots more information about the Google Chrome browser.