Chrome

Google Chrome is a cross-platformweb browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, and was later ported to Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android. The browser is also the main component of Chrome OS, where it serves as the platform for web apps. - Wikipedia

The browser was first publicly released on September 2, 2008 for Windows XP and later, with 43 supported languages, officially a beta version,[28] and as a stable public release on December 11, 2008.

On the same day, a CNET news item[29] 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. This passage was inherited from the general Google terms of service.[30] Google responded to this criticism immediately by stating that the language used was borrowed from other products, and removed this passage from the Terms of Service.[14]

Chrome quickly gained about 1% usage share.[25][31][32] 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.[33]

In early January 2009, CNET reported that Google planned to release versions of Chrome for OS X and Linux in the first half of the year.[34] The first official Chrome OS X and Linux developer previews[35] were announced on June 4, 2009, with a blog post[36] 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 OS X and Linux.[37][38] Google Chrome 5.0, announced on May 25, 2010, was the first stable release to support all three platforms.[39]

Chrome was one of the twelve browsers offered to European Economic Area users of Microsoft Windows in 2010.[40]

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