Google's Chrome Browser Used More Than Firefox

[Greg Tito]

Google's Chrome Browser Used More Than Firefox

Chrome has overtaken second place in the browser wars, but still lags behind Internet Explorer.

Back when I was a wee lad, there was only one way to get "on the lines." You clicked (doubly!) on the little nautical wheel and booted up Netscape Navigator. Then Microsoft beat away its cute and fuzzy competitors with the Internet Explorer club, and like everyone else, I pretty much used it for years. Firefox was a breath of fresh air in the early 2000s for me, but even that noble browser began to slow from the ballast pulling it down. I tried Google Chrome on a whim in 2008 and I never went back. Its growth in usership was part of the uncrowning of Internet Explorer as the browser used by more than half of the world [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104123-You-Are-Probably-Not-Using-Internet-Explorer-to-Read-This], and now, according to Statscounter.com, usage of Chrome has overtaken that of Mozilla's Firefox to rest firmly in second place.

Well, perhaps not exactly firmly. Chrome holds a slim lead with 25.69 percent of internet denizens using Google's slim browser, while Firefox is used by 25.23 percent - a difference of just .46 percent for those of you too lazy to pop open a calculator.

Sadly, Internet Explorer is still used by the most people with 40.63 percent, mostly due to old installs of Internet Explorer 6 on machines in nursing homes in Minnesota, I suspect. These people just don't want to upgrade, despite Microsoft asking them quite nicely to do so [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108242-Microsoft-Wants-to-Kill-Internet-Explorer-6-Too].

I have to say that I'm glad more people have adopted Chrome. I really find it to be the fastest and most updated browser I've ever used, and the moveable tabs lining the top of the screen are just as convenient as they were when I first downloaded it. How good is Chrome's design? Well, if both IE and Firefox are aping it, then the Google Chrome team must be on to something.

Now if I could only figure out how those Google Chrome netbooks are supposed to work. It's an operating system inside of a browser ... We have to go deeper.

Source: StatCounter [http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-monthly-200911-201111]

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[Just_A_Glitch]

...we did it boys.

We did it!

 

[isometry]

Haha, I like how the market share for Opera remained constant, that is where Chrome got "inspired" for most of their improvements beyond firefox.

We should all keep Firefox around though, since it's free and open source, we'll need it after Google fulfills their destiny to succeed Microsoft as the emperor of IT evil.

 

[enzilewulf]

I remember the days of dial up at my grandmas house and how getting on explorer was a slow process...

Now I have my own computer with a nice high speed connection and Google chrome just to polish it off.

..also people still use Internet Explorer and Fire Fox?

.....pshh hipsters.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Is that because Chrome is getting tight or because Firefox is turning to crap?

 

[Aeshi]

Truly a testament to Google's power to make people think a product is something new and innovative just by changing the looks/logo a bit.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

And so begins another internet pissing contest. Not saying which one I use, just lengthening the post to avoid low content post warnings.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I take it you haven't used Opera, because Chrome's still copying it's innovations from 5 years ago.

I've used Opera.

I prefer Chrome.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Which is understandable, the general opinion through most of the Internet is that Chrome is faster and more stable than Firefox.

Wow THAT's news!
People still use Explorer?

A lot of that has to be workplaces and schools and such that don't allow anything else.

The rest are people who are too lazy, too oblivious to the greatness of a browser that isn't IE, or move computers too much to use anything other than the default.

 

[mjc0961]

I was using Chrome until about a month or two ago when it started crashing constantly. Same thing happened to other people I know who were using it. So I've been back on Firefox for a while now. Have they fixed Chrome yet or is it still a crashing pile of mess that makes Interent Explorer look stable?

 

[thespyisdead]

all(sieg?) hail chrome, the bestest of them all

 

[Byere]

Yea... wanna know why? Because it's so much BETTER than Firefox. Unless you try to install Skype plugins, then it becomes a big pile of pants...

Nonetheless, I'm partially surprised that IE is still top (what with it being so crap) but only partially because most businesses won't allow "fun" browsers on work computers because it might distract employees...

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Back when I was a wee lad, there was only one way to get "on the lines." You clicked (doubly!) on the little nautical wheel and booted up Netscape Navigator.

Bah. Or Mosaic (which Netscape and MS and (indirectly) everyone since has based their browsers on). Or Lynx. Or any of half a dozen other things. Kids thes--uh, kids those days. Heh.

 

[JimbobDa3rd]

TBH Ive been tempted to switch to chrome a few times from firefox, but everything is already laid out the way I like on firefox and I have fast internet and a good comp so I never really notice anything anyway

 

[Micalas]

Chrome is such a memory hog though...

 

[Snowalker]

I'm confused, if Opera is so much better, why does it seem to fall behind Chrome in simple tests

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/the-big-browser-benchmark-chrome-15-vs-opera-11-vs-ie9-vs-firefox-8-vs-safari-5/16041?pg=6&tag=content;siu-container

Can someone explain?

and apparently the one that truly sucks is safari.