We have tested Chromium Web Browser in Ubuntu before and it was a huge disappointment. I was not even able to maximise the window while using Chromium .
I think that was a few months ago and after reading some encouraging reviews elsewhere, i decided to give google chrome another try in my Ubuntu machine. I was in for a huge surprise.
Chromium or the Google Chrome's linux version has changed by a huge margin. It is no more a distant cousin of Google Chrome, but Chromium is more like Google Chrome itself now. Except some issues with enabling flash support i didn't find any glitches at all.
And then there is a number of small things like the literally falling download button, google search within the browser main window, and some kind of turquoise blue as the default color for selections etc. that will make you fall in love with Chromium. And after all this, it is so damn light weight as well. I got to tell you folks, i was so impressed with Chromium that i may even start using Chromium as my default browser in Ubuntu ;-) ( by the way, i am writing this post from Chromium ).
Now let us take a look on how to install Chromium Web Browser in Ubuntu. There is this PPA repo dedicated to Chromium, and installing Chromium from this Chromium-daily PPA repo is the safest way to go. And you will also be able to recieve updates for Chromium in the future.
Update: Here's how to enable flash support for Chromium Web browser in Ubuntu Linux
Adding GPG Key
- Goto Terminal and Copy-Paste the following.
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 4E5E17B5
- Done.
Add New PPA Launchpad Repo
- Now Goto System > Administration > Software Sources and select Third-Party Software tab and click ADD. And Simply Copy-Paste the following Repo(depending on the version of Ubuntu you use).
For Ubuntu Jaunty
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
For Ubuntu Intrepid
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
For Ubuntu Hardy
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu hardy main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu hardy main
- Close the window and Reload when prompted to.
- Done.
Installing Chromium Web Browser in Ubuntulaunchpad
- Goto Terminal and do.
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install chromium-browser
- Done.
Starting Chromium Web Browser
- Simply go to terminal and type chromium-browser.
- OR you may want to add Chromium in the top menu in your Desktop like in the screenshot below.
- Here is how it can be done. First right click on top of the menu and click on Add to panel.
- Now select Custom Application Launcher from top of the menu.
- Now in the Command form type in the command to start Chromium which is, chromium-browser.
- That is it. Start Chromium Web Browser from top menu of your desktop and you are ready to go. :-)
PS: I haven't tested chromium in hardy and intrepid, though i have included launchpad repo for both here. If you are an Hardy or Intrepid user try installing chromium at your own risk. And also let me quote the original warning from the owner of launchpad repo maintaining Chromium, "The PPA is maintained by a bot, so it contains completely untested builds, mostly useful to track regressions or if you are curious, or just brave." :D. I don't think it is that bad. Give it a try and you will know.
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In Ubuntu 9.04 (AMD64) it crashed on the first startup but thereafter it starts instantly. Similar speed to Chrome in Windows.
Now all I need is a Zend Studio debugging addon and Chromium will be my default browser.
p.s. This comment was posted from Chromium
Works fine in Hardy but you need to type the following in order for some plugins to work:
chromium-browser --enable-plugins
After doing so, Flashplayer works but Java still doesn't work. This browser seems faster than Firefox. Hopefully it'll be fully developed soon. Shows great potential.
How anyone can claim that Chrome is a good browser is beyond me. The interface is worse than IE7 and 8's (I didnt think that was even possible). It does NOT render web pages correctly. Any speed improvement over Firefox is minimal and not even worth the time.
Google needs to go back to the drawing board because Chrome and Chromium are no good at all.
It was horrible - but as the article said, it's much better now.
I use (regularly) Firefox 3.5.3, Firefox 3.7, Opera 10.10, Epiphany (webkit), and Midori. I must say that if I'm going to stick with a browser for a session, it might be either Opera, Firefox 3.7 or Chromium. Opera has an option if you call up a context menu on a web page to open it with another browser.
If you open it with Chromium, it's not only very quick to load - but rendered very nicely too. This means the only reason for calling it up in Firefox now is if you need to use some add-on (like flash blocker and downloadhelper with youtube for example).
Chromium has come of age - it's extremely good (as are Firefox 3.7 and Opera 10.10) and it's free and Open Source software. I support choice, I'd rather use all three - and do with no problems.