Google Chrome Frame
{{short description|Plug-in designed for Internet Explorer based on the open-source Chromium project}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Google Chrome Frame
| logo =
| screenshot = GoogleChromeFrame.png
| caption = Internet Explorer 6 using Google Chrome Frame to render Wikipedia’s main page
| author =
| developer = Google Inc.
| released = {{start date|2009|9|22}}
| discontinued = yes
| operating system = Microsoft Windows
| engine = WebKit (based on KHTML)
| size =
| programming language = C++
| genre = Replacement layout engine
| license =
| website = {{URL|https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/chrome-frame-getting-started}}
}}
Google Chrome Frame was a plug-in designed for Internet Explorer based on the open-source Chromium project, first announced on September 22, 2009.{{Cite web|title=Introducing Google Chrome Frame|url=https://blog.chromium.org/2009/09/introducing-google-chrome-frame.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=Chromium Blog|language=en}} It went stable in September 2010, on the first birthday of the project.{{Cite web|title=Google Chrome Frame: Stable and Speedy|url=https://blog.chromium.org/2010/09/google-chrome-frame-stable-and-speedy.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=Chromium Blog|language=en}} It was discontinued on February 25, 2014 and is no longer supported.{{Cite web|title=Chrome Frame - The Chromium Projects|url=https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/chrome-frame-getting-started|access-date=2020-08-14|website=www.chromium.org}}
The plug-in worked with Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 and 9. It allowed suitably coded web pages to be displayed in Internet Explorer by Google Chrome's versions of the WebKit layout engine and V8 JavaScript engine. In a test by Computerworld, JavaScript code ran 10 times faster with the plug-in on Internet Explorer 8.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6232744/IE8-browser-runs-faster-with-Google-Chrome-plug-in.html|title=IE8 browser runs faster with Google Chrome plug-in|author=Amy Willis|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=2009-09-25}}
Development of Google Chrome Frame was required in order for Google Wave (now Apache Wave), which requires HTML5, to function in Internet Explorer.
The first stable version supporting Non-Admin Chrome Frame was rolled out on August 30, 2011. The newer Chrome Frame installer ran at Admin level by default and fell back to Non-Admin mode if the user didn't have the necessary permissions on their machine.{{Cite web|title=Non-Admin Chrome Frame Reaches Stable Channel|url=https://blog.chromium.org/2011/08/non-admin-chrome-frame-reaches-stable.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=Chromium Blog|language=en}}
Deployment
Web developers can allow their websites to use the plug-in by using the following code on their web pages:
This will cause the page to render in Chrome Frame for users who have it installed, without changing it for users who have not.
In February 2010, Google Chrome Frame was updated to also support deployment by HTTP headers, with a number of advantages, such as simplified sitewide support and support of the application/xhtml+xml MIME type even on Internet Explorer which normally does not support this MIME type for XHTML documents.{{Cite web|title=Google Chrome Frame Developer Updates|url=https://blog.chromium.org/2010/02/google-chrome-frame-developer-updates.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=Chromium Blog|language=en}} For a blanket rollout on an entire web site, an Apache server with mod_headers and mod_setenvif enabled can specify a header directive like this:
BrowserMatch chromeframe gcf
Header append X-UA-Compatible "chrome=1" env=gcf
Internet Explorer add-ons do not function on pages rendered using WebKit. There has been criticism concerning Chrome Frame from Mozilla{{Cite web|last=Shankland|first=Stephen|title=Mozilla VP: Chrome Frame is the wrong answer|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/mozilla-vp-chrome-frame-is-the-wrong-answer/|access-date=2020-08-14|website=CNET|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Keizer|first=Gregg|date=2009-09-29|title=Mozilla slams Google's Chrome Frame as 'browser soup'|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2528248/mozilla-slams-google-s-chrome-frame-as--browser-soup-.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=Computerworld|language=en}} and Microsoft{{Cite web|last=Fried|first=Ina|title=Microsoft bashes Google's Chrome-in-IE plan|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-bashes-googles-chrome-in-ie-plan/|access-date=2020-08-14|website=CNET|language=en}} as Chrome Frame "can disable IE features and muddle users' understanding of Web security matters". With Google Chrome Frame installed, users can add the gcf: prefix to URLs to render them with WebKit and V8 instead of Internet Explorer's built-in Trident engine after enabling this feature via a registry setting. An update also brought the possibility to navigate pages in IE utilising WebKit/V8 without the gcf: prefix:{{cite web|url=https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/chrome-frame-getting-started|title=Chrome Frame: Developer Guide - The Chromium Projects|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204122909/https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/chrome-frame-getting-started|archive-date=2010-12-04|access-date=2020-08-14}}
| class="wikitable" | ||
| Registry key | Value | Function |
|---|---|---|
rowspan=2|HKCU\Software\Google\ChromeFrame | AllowUnsafeURLs=1 (DWORD) | By adding the gcf: prefix to the URL in address bar, the page will load rendered with WebKit/V8 |
IsDefaultRenderer=1 (DWORD) | Makes WebKit/V8 the default rendering technique |
Google Chrome Frame communicated with Google's servers: it reported installation to Google, downloaded updates to Chrome Frame and Google's Safe Browsing list, and at the user's discretion could send Google usage statistics and crash reports.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/chromeframe/intl/en/privacy.html|title=Google Chrome Frame Privacy Notice|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825104448/http://www.google.com:80/chromeframe/intl/en/privacy.html|archive-date=2011-08-25|url-status=dead}}