Google Updater and Google Update

[Kal]

Hi Everyone,

There seems to be some confusion (and understandably so) between the
Google Updater and Google Update. Hopefully this will help clear up
some of that confusion.

- Google Updater is the application used by Google Pack to install and
update programs in the Pack (http://pack.google.com). You may also
receive Updater when downloading Google Earth. If you have Updater
installed, you'll see it appear as 'Google Updater' in Add/Remove
Programs on Windows. Additionally, Google Updater uses the Windows
Task Scheduler to schedule when to check for updates.

- Google Update, also known as Omaha, is an open source component of
several Google products, like Earth and Google Chrome. It's
responsible for keeping these programs up-to-date. As a product
component, you won't see Omaha appear in Add/Remove Programs.

One situation that can be particularly puzzling is installing Google
Chrome through Pack. In cases like this, where a Pack program uses
Omaha for updates, Omaha will always take over this task from Updater.
That said, you'll still be able to manage the program (e.g. open,
uninstall, check the version) through the Updater interface.

To learn more, visit http://www.google.com/support/installer/bin/answer.py?answer=98805

Cheers,
Kal