That's just because it wants to install machine-wide if possible. You can just tell it to continue without admin permissions and it tells you explicitly that it

That's just because it wants to install machine-wide if possible. You can just tell it to continue without admin permissions and it tells you explicitly that it can be installed without that. Note that Windows doesn't work like Linux with setuid bits and whatnot. The permissions a file is installed with don't dictate what permissions the program that executes it has. That's entirely a function of the program's security context. Hence, for a machine-wide installation to actually make a difference security-wise, Google would actually have to install e.g. a high-privilege service that would run when you try to start Chrome. I don't think it does such a thing. So I think Windows is already designed correctly in this regard and hence I don't think this is an issue on Windows as claimed.