Iron is a browser based on Chromium code base. Iron uses the latest of webkit and ensures that some of the privacy issues associated with Google Chrome are not present. It uses the same user interface as Google Chrome so you will feel at home if you are already an user of Chrome.
Iron is a great alternative to Firefox Portable
I stumbled upon Iron when I was searching for an alternative for Firefox Portable. While Firefox portable is great to carry on a pen drive, it is excruciatingly slow because of its continuous flash drive access. Iron developers Srware also provide a portable edition of Iron, which in my experience is miles ahead of Firefox Portable in terms of speed.
The following comparison is taken from Srware website to show how Iron is different from Google Chrome in terms of privacy:
| Problem | Chrome | Iron |
| Client-ID | Chrome creates a unique ID through which a user can be theoretically identified. | Not Present |
| Timestamp |
Chrome remembers up to the second exactly when the software was installed. |
Not Present |
| Suggest |
Depending on the configuration, each time you put something in the address line,this information is sent to Google to provide suggestions. |
Not Present |
| Alternate Error pages |
Depending on the configuration, if you have typed a false address in the adress bar, this is sent to Google and you get an error message from Google’s servers. |
Not Present |
| Error Reporting |
Depending on the configuration, details about crashes or failures are sent Google’s servers. |
Not Present |
| RL-Z Tracking | This Chrome-function transmits information in encoded form to Google, for example, when and where Chrome has been downloaded. | Not Present |
| Google Updater | Chrome installs a updater, which loads at every Windows in background. | Not Present |
| URL-Tracker | Calls depending on the configuration five seconds after launch the Google homepage opens in background | Not Present |
Some of the above are not some alarming issues, but still a little bit of additionally privacy is always better. Iron is highly recommended as a browser for a portable USB drive. You can also use Iron in case administrator rights issues do not allow you to install alternative web browsers at school or at work.