Thorium is a customized fork of Chrome that has special builds for different cpu architectures, it also has support for Windows 7 and a build for Windows XP in planned.
I find it amusing that that the author holds onto Windows 7 enough that he decided to build his own version of Chrome.
There was some controversial over some "easter eggs" that has since been removed. In all honestly they are quite amusing and pretty harmless.
Besides this, I think this might be an interesting project to watch.
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By Google's design pretty much all Chromium browsers are terrible for portability. Chrome itself can only be considered portable when the user is logged into a Google account.
Based on that it is very unlikely we would consider any other Chromium-based browsers for release until one of them puts in some major work to be more portable.
Thorium is already portable. Simple download the .zip version.
The profile 'USER_DATA' is saved in the 'user_data_dir' inside the folder selected by user (usually C:\Thorium Portable).
For details see inside 'THORIUM.BAT' this command line switch: --user-data-dir="%~dp0%\USER_DATA".
Checked also Windows Registry the word 'Chromium': nothing
Instead Chromium, user settings were saved in '%AppData%\Local\Chromium\USER_DATA'
Here are some links about Thorium:
• author's web site: https://thorium.rocks/
• GitHub repository for Windows 10/11: https://github.com/Alex313031/Thorium
• GitHub repository for windows 7/8/8.1: https://github.com/Alex313031/thorium-win7
• Softpedia: https://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Browsers/Thorium-Browser.shtml
Suggestion:
download last build for Win 10/11 and for Win 7/8: M119.0.6045.214 (remember, always .zip).
This last build is very fast and stable.
Simply moving the user data directory isn't a big change compared to Chrome/Chromium.
Have they done anything to prevent passwords being locked to each computer? That is one of the biggest pain points with Chromium browsers.
Answer: Yes. They done anything to prevent passwords being locked to each computer.
I have seen the release info for 26th Release - M110.0.5481.178 of Mar 4, 2023 https://github.com/Alex313031/Thorium-Win/releases/tag/M110.0.5481.178.
For clarity I report the entire paragraph relating to Windows users
IMPORTANT for Windows Users
– Two new flags from ungoogled chromium, to enable truly portable usage were added. They unencrypt your user data dir, and remove tying it to a specific machine. Meaning you can drag the .zip around with you from machine to machine, and you wont lose passwords, extensions, etc. You will need to back up your current config, or start with a fresh one. I.E. you can go from Unencrypted > Encrypted, but not Encrypted (the default) > Unencrypted. I should have introduced these a long time ago. Sorry if this annoys users of the portable .zips. Note that enabling these flags is inherently less secure.
They are:
chrome://flags/#disable-encryption and
chrome://flags/#disable-machine-id
I haven't tried these configurations because I don't need them (I only have one computer with Windows 7).
But maybe this information can be useful to someone else.
Regards
b.t.w.
On Win 7 I use the buid Thorium_AVX_119.0.6045.214 https://github.com/Alex313031/thorium-win7/releases/download/M119.0.6045...
Alex313031 (GitHub developer) has released a Beta of Thorium for Windows XP/SP3
Here are some links about Thorium (links updated):
• author's web site: https://thorium.rocks/
• GitHub repository for Windows 10/11: https://github.com/Alex313031/Thorium
• GitHub repository for windows XP/7/8/8.1: https://github.com/Alex313031/thorium-legacy
• GitHub download page for thorium-legacy: https://github.com/Alex313031/thorium-legacy/releases/tag/M122.0.6261.15...
• GitHub direct download Thorium 32 bit (for now) for Win XP: https://github.com/Alex313031/thorium-legacy/releases/download/M122.0.62...
• Softpedia: https://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Browsers/Thorium-Browser.shtml
As I understand the development of thorium is intertwined with that of Supermium:
I don't have tried Supermium, but Thorium seem to be more robust.
If Thorium is to become as Windows-XP-friendly as Supermium, I say this should be added into PortableApps.com alongside Supermium. That way, the people will choose between Supermium and Thorium the same way the people choose between Google Chrome and SRWare Iron... in a manner of speaking.
EDIT: Whoa! On second thoughts, it's a really bad idea adding Thorium--take a good look at these posts!
Also, the "--disable-encryption" and "--disable-machine-id" parameters MIGHT prove to be the ultimate solution to this so-called Chromium-based portability issues... unless "Googlevil" comes up with harsher countermeasures.
EDIT 2: More information regarding possible portability on different Chromium-based browsers here.
The Dark Giganotosaur, the ghastly dinosaur (currently in human form)
"Portable and stealth apps are all that matters to me!"
Windows 10 x64 (NEVER USED) | Knoppix 8.1+ x64 | Linux Mint 20.3 Xfce x64
I'm not taking sides on the issue one way or the other here, just clarifying the facts. It was a single cartoon image in the source code of Thorium which has since been removed - everything else mentioned there was about other works by the same person, it was not in Thorium.
--disable-encryption does exactly what it says - user's passwords, cookies, etc. will be stored unencrypted in the profile, so there is a loss of security in exchange for portability. It is also impossible to migrate an encrypted profile to an unencrypted Chromium browser and vice-versa. The profile will get wiped in the process.
Oh, me neither... it was only a heads-up--never implied that I believe in such claims. Still, it's never nice and cool when developers act a little... strange, shady, and/or untrustworthy. You still remember what happened with SRWare Iron, right? Some things are really hard to forget, and once the reputation/trust has been damaged/broken, there's no turning back, no second chances, and no forgiveness.
Anyway, and to be honest, I could care less whether the people believe in whatever claims or not--people are free to do what they see fit and believe whoever they want... as long as they're careful and know what they're doing! Long story short, keep on your toes with who you trust and what you use.
In my opinion, security is a little subjective and irrelevant... I mean, people have used this so far and they never had any problems so it's probably just another FUD made up by Google (yes, they're REALLY paranoid) and others. Take for an example on those still using Windows XP/Vista... I keep hearing people always prattling on about this so-called "old and insecure" mantra made up by Microsoft just to push everyone to use Spyware Windows 10 and beyond, which is a MUCH better alternative, alright! Windows XP/Vista users never had any problems with security... additionally, some/most of modern viruses don't even work on old Windows OSes!
Nevertheless, I believe you--security is still important these days.
Impossible to migrate on CERTAIN Chromium-based browsers, I believe. Regardless, according to the post I linked to, I decided to test Supermium's portability with only "--disable-machine-id" parameter, and it worked for me--I still got my extensions and settings on a different PC.
The Dark Giganotosaur, the ghastly dinosaur (currently in human form)
"Portable and stealth apps are all that matters to me!"
Windows 10 x64 (NEVER USED) | Knoppix 8.1+ x64 | Linux Mint 20.3 Xfce x64
The latest version of Thorium is based on Supermium.