Many reports indicate that Google Chrome is the most popular Web browser on desktop, portable and mobile devices. Google surprised many Linux users, however, when they announced they would no longer provide updates for 32-bit Linux distributions. Modern versions only come out for 64-bit Linux environments. An open-source version of Google Chrome. By default, it runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, but it's not distributed as binary packages like Google Chrome. Because of this, it is not so popular among novice users who tend to download and install the Google Chrome web browser instead. Download Mozilla Firefox, a free web browser. Firefox is created by a global not-for-profit dedicated to putting individuals in control online. Get Firefox for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS today! Mainstream browser or shall I say the dominated one: Google Chrome that Linux users refrain themselves from instaling it on their machines is rather resourced consuming browser. This is the main reason why most of the Linux OS like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Centos and more come with Firefox Mozilla but somewhere it still not that much lightweight as.
Google Chrome is one of the top browsers for all platforms. It's a product released by Google. The browser comes with numerous features, including synchronization with Google services, fast performance, fast performance, etc.
In this guide, check out how to install Google Chrome on Fedora Linux.
Google Chrome vs. Chromium
Chromium is often mentioned as the open-source alternative to Google Chrome. In action, both browsers feel and behave the same way. So, what's the difference?
Both browsers share the same code baes. Imac keyboard for windows. Chromium is an open-source browser project that's maintained by the Chromium Projects. Google Chrome is based on Chromium. However, it comes with various proprietary features and different licensing.
For regular users, using either Chromium or Google Chrome will offer almost the same experience.
Installing Chrome and Chromium on Fedora
There are multiple ways of installing Google Chrome on Fedora. Google offers an installable RPM package of Chrome. Alternatively, you can manually enable the Google Chrome repo and install Chrome from there.
In the case of the Chromium browser, it's directly available from the official Fedora repo. Some variations of the Chromium browser are also available from the RPM Fusion repository.
Install Google Chrome on Fedora
Install Chrome using GUI
Chromium Browser Download For Linux
This is the simplest way of installing the Chrome browser. However, it requires that you're running the GNOME desktop. In the case of Fedora, GNOME is the default desktop environment.
Launch GNOME Software. It's a graphical tool for managing Fedora repositories and apps.
First, it's required to enable the Google Chrome repository. Go to 'Software Repositories' on Software.
Click 'Install' under the 'Third Party Repositories.' It will enable all the important and popular third-party repos, including the one for Google Chrome.
For our purpose, we need the repo for Google Chrome. Enable the 'google-chrome' repo. The action will require root privilege.
Once enabled, search for 'chrome' on Software.
From the Google Chrome page, click 'Install.'
Install Chrome using CLI
Google Chrome can also be installed from the command line. There are multiple ways to proceed. The recommended method of installing Chrome is to install it from the repo. Launch a terminal and install the extra Fedora repos.
Although the repos are installed, they're not activated. For this guide, we only need the Google Chrome repo. Enable the Chrome repo.
There are multiple releases of Google Chrome. The following command will install Google Chrome stable. This is the recommended way to go for most users.
To install the Chrome beta release, run the following command.
To install the Chrome unstable release, run the following command.
Install Google Chrome from RPM
Because Chrome is a popular browser, Google officially offers an installable RPM package. Fedora users can manually download it from the official Chrome download page. Alternatively, DNF can download and install it.
The following DNF command will download and install Chrome from the official RPM package. Note that it's the Chrome stable release.
Install Chromium on Fedora
The Chromium browser is basically the vanilla version of Google Chrome. Because it's open-source and comes with more flexible licensing, the Chromium browser may be the go-to choice. Moreover, it's also suitable for security-concerned folks.
Configuring RPM Fusion
RPM Fusion is an awesome repo to have on Fedora. It's a third-party repository that hosts numerous packages that Fedora or Red Hat doesn't officially ship. All the packages of the repo are kept updated. The reason it's recommended is that some flavor of Chromium browser comes from the RPM Fusion repo.
The following command will configure the RPM Fusion repo (free and non-free).
Install Chromium on GUI
Fire up GNOME Software and search for Chromium.
Make sure that the extra Fedora repos are installed and enabled, especially RPM Fusion ones.
Here, three different types of Chromium browser are available.
- ungoogled-chromium: The official distribution of ungoogled-chromium. This variant retains the default Chromium experience as closely as possible. It incorporates tweaks for improved privacy, control, and transparency. However, the features must be manually activated/enabled.
- Chromium (CBP): It's a distribution of the ungoogled-chromium project on GitHub. It incorporates various tweaks for enhanced privacy, transparency, and control.
- Chromium (Freeworld): The default Chromium browser built with all free world codecs and VA-API support.
Install the release of Chromium browser that suits your needs.
Install Chromium from CLI
As discussed earlier, there are several types of Chromium browsers available for Fedora. Those packages can also be installed from the command line.
Assuming the system already has RPM Fusion repos installed and enabled, the following DNF commands will install the Chromium browser release.
To install the vanilla Chromium browser, run the following command.
To install Chromium (CBP), run the following command.
To install Chromium (Freeworld), run the following command.
Fedora customization
For Chrome/Chromium browser, Fedora offers some recommended customization. It includes a custom user-agent string and access to many Fedora Project services. It's an optional step to complete.
To install the Fedora-suggested configuration for Chrome/Chromium, run the following command.
Final thoughts
Installing Google Chrome is a simple task. Follow the method that fits you best.
Happy computing!
Opensource lightweight browser for Ubuntu Linux to browse different websites on average or low hardware configuration Linux systems. Lightweight browser Alternatives to Chrome and Mozilla for Linux.
Web Browsers, the day when they started making our lives easier by allowing us to crawl the internet to today's world; they have been gone through numerous technological advancements. Browsers are quite advance to handle high-end graphics, online videos, apps and more without the help of third-party software. But this also has made them heavy in terms of consuming hardware resources, means more RAM and storage space. Such kind of browsers works well on good system configuration machines, however, Linux operating systems those are running on old PC or laptops or low configuration systems require light browsers with a minimal approach to work fast.
Mainstream browser or shall I say the dominated one: Google Chrome that Linux users refrain themselves from instaling it on their machines is rather resourced consuming browser. This is the main reason why most of the Linux OS like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Centos and more come with Firefox Mozilla but somewhere it still not that much lightweight as we need it to be. So, I have done some research and gathered some lightweight Linux browsers.
Here we are giving a list of Best Ubuntu Linux lightweight web browsers that allowed you help to choose the fastest and lightest one.
Trivia: These browsers are available not only for Ubuntu but also for other Linux operating systems such as Linux Mint, Debian, CentOS, PuppyLinux, Fedora and more… (Subject to availability by developers).
10 Lightweight browsers for Linux/Windows/MacOS
Midori browser lightweight Linux browser
Midori is a free and open source lightweight browser for Linux operating systems. It initially released on 16 December 2007 and has faced up and down in terms of developments. However, in the last year 2018, the latest version of the Midori 8.0, an overhauled one launched with additional features such as adblocker.
So, if you are looking for a lightweight alternative web browser for Linux' s default one then try Midori. It is not only lightweight but also has some mainstream features that are really needed by the users. Such as support to HTML5, Bookmark management, Configurable web search, Private browsing, Tabs, windows & session management and more…
Midori, which is a Japnese name for green, integrated with GTK+ 2 and GTK+ 3 support, working on WebKit rendering engine plus also supports user scripts and user styles.
Its default search engine is DuckDuck GO and comes with few extension support: Adblock, Form history, Mouse gestures, Cookie management, and RSS Feed Panel. Furthermore, its Cross-browser extensions are compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Vivaldi.
The best part of this lightweight browser is it doesn't consume RAM like Chrome and that's why it can use easily on low configuration machines.
Not only Linux platform, but the Midori is also available for Android, BSD and MacOS. The Windows version of the Midori is not active in development.
The Acid3 score of Midori is 100/100 while the HTML5 score is 325/555.
You can download the Midori from GitHub.
Falkon (formerly QupZilla)
Falkon which formerly QupZilla is a free and open-source web browser developed by KDE, written in C++ and built on the QtWebEngine rendering engine. Basically, it is a wrapper for the Chromium browser core which is meant to provide a lightweight web browser for all major platforms. Primarily, it was developed only for educational purposes but later started growing as a feature-rich browser and partaken the consortium of lightweight browsers.
Falkon contains all common functions that available and required by the browser to give a productive environment to users. It features bookmarks, history, tab browsing, blocking ads with a built-in AdBlock plugin.
Falkon light browser is available for Windows and Linux both. Test Score Acid3 –100/100 and HTML5- 497/550
Otter Browser
Otter Browser another free & open-source lightweight browser available for Linux, Windows and MacOS. This cross-platform uses the Qt framework.
Like Falkon, the Otter browser also uses Qt WebEngine, a wrapper around the Chromium browser core. It features, Passwords manager, Addon manager, Content blocking, Spells checking, Customisable GUI, URL completion, Speed dial, Bookmarks and various related features, Mouse gestures and User style sheets.
GNOME Web (formally Epiphany)
Download Chrome On Linux
GNOME Web is a free and open-source lightweight web browser earlier known as Epiphany. This browser is available to install from software repositories of most Linux operating systems. It is developed by GNOME for Linux and Unix-like systems.
The Gnome web uses the WebKit engine and offers a sleek, clean and beautiful user interface while keeping the lightness of the browser in mind. It comes out of the box in the GNOME and elementary OS desktops.
qutebrowser
qutebrowser is another extremely lightweight open-source browser for Linux, Windows and MacOS operating systems. This so-called 'cute browser' has a minimal graphical user interface to make it as light it can be by the developers. It is a keyboard-focused browser based on Python and PyQt5. It was inspired by other browsers/add-ons like dwb and Vimperator/Pentadactyl.
With default DuckDuckGo as the default search engine, it is available in the native repository of Linux distributions such as Fedora and Arch Linux. As said it is keyboard driven browser, so one needs to use the keyboard for different operations or browsing websites with commands just like VIM editor (no need of mouse).
It is available for On Debian / Ubuntu, Fedora, Archlinux, Gentoo, Void Linux, NixOS, openSUSE, Slackware, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Windows and macOS. The Acid3 test score is 100/100 and HTML5 is 385/555.
Surf- minimalist web browser
Surf is another keyboard based browser with a minimalist interface with no graphics controls. Just like the qutebrowser, the user needs to use the keyboard shortcuts or external tools to control the web browser.
Because of the minimal graphical user interface, it is not simply possible to do common browser tasks such as tabbed browsing, bookmarks or ad filtering, however, the user can be done it by implementing patches, scripts or external programs. All the instruction on how to operating the surf is available on its official website. Its Acid3 score is 100/100 and 385/500 for HTML5.
Download Surf
NetSurf
NetSurf is a lightweight free, open-source web browser developed in C language. It is just 6MB web browser which is capable to handle standard web tasks for today's world. It complies with web standards HTTP, HTML and CSS, however, it doesn't support Javascript completely and that's why it disabled by the developers right now but planned to give full support to it in the near future.
NetSurf is available to download for RISC OS, Linux and other Unix-likes, Haiku & BeOS, AmigaOS, Windows, Atari and Mac OS X including its source code. This browser is useful for embedded Linux or old operating systems those work on very low RAM like 256MB.
Lynx text-only web browsing
Lynx is a text browser for the World Wide Web without graphical user interface and all the websites and other operations have to handle using the keyboard and commands directly from the command terminal. As you can see in the given screenshot, the Google search had been opened and it appeared without any graphical elements. This allows the user those are working on the Linux servers or Windows XP to visit different websites without going through mainstream GUI browser. And this is why it is one of the lightest browsers in this list. It can be used almost on all Linux systems.
Lynx currently supports SSL and many HTML features including Tables formatting and frames. However, elements such as JavaScript, Adobe Flash, images and video cannot be opened by it but has the capability to launch external programs like image viewer and video player to handle them.
Other benefits of Lynx-like text-based browsers are easy to use on low bandwidth internet connections and older computer hardware where the rendering of heavy images is quite slow.
Below screenshot juxtaposes of Wikipedia web page rendering on Lynx text browser and Mozilla Firefox. If you are looking for Ubuntu web browser command line based then try this one.
Ubuntu Web Browser
Ubuntu Web Browser is a lightweight web browser meant and customized for Ubuntu operating systems. It is based on the Oxide browser engine and using the Ubuntu UI components. It is also included by default in the recent Ubuntu desktop releases.
K-Meleon lightweight browser for Windows
K-Meleon is the lightweight browser developed for Windows 32 but systems for low configuration hardware. It is based on the Gecko layout engine developed by Mozilla for Firefox.
K-Meleon is Free, Open Source software uses the native Windows application programming interface (API). However, while writing this article the last stable version of the K-Meleon was released on 2015-09-19 which is quite old. Still, it is here just for knowledge if someone would like to try it.
Here is the website link for K-Meleon
A quick comparison table of lightweight browsers for Linux, Windows and MacOS.
| Browsers | Linux | Windows | MacOS | Javascriptsupport | Frame support |
| Midori browser | Yes | Inactive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Falkon (formerly QupZilla) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Otter Browser | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| qutebrowser | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surf | Yes | NO | NO | Yes | Yes |
| NetSurf | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Lynx | Yes | Yes | Yes | NO | Partial |
| K-Meleon | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| GNOME Web | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
GNOME Web
Other Useful Resources:
