Google Chrome Google Chrome Google Chrome (commonly known simply as Chrome) is a freeware web browser developed by Google LLC. It was first released on September 2, 2008 for Microsoft Windows, and was later ported to Linux, macOS, iOS and Android. Google Chrome is also the main component of Chrome OS, where it serves as a platform for running web apps. Google releases the majority of Chrome's source code as the Chromium open-source project; however, Chrome itself is proprietary software. One component that is not open-source is the built-in Adobe Flash Player (that Chrome has disabled by default since September 2016). Chrome
History of the web browser business model, unlike the business model of 1990s Netscape, primarily consists of doing deals with search engines such as Google to direct users towards them – see Web browser#Business models. In 2003, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer would no longer be made available as a separate product but would be part of the evolution of its Windows platform, and that no more releases for the Macintosh would be made. AOL announced that it would retire support and development of the Netscape web browser in February 2008. In the second half of 2004, Internet Explorer reached a peak market share of