Firefox Browser Use Drops As Mozilla's Worst Microsoft Edge Fears Come True
Back in April, we reported that the Edge browser is quickly gaining market share now that Microsoft has transitioned from the EdgeHTML engine to the more widely used Chromium engine (which also underpins Google's Chrome browser). At the time, Edge slipped into the second-place slot for desktop web browsers, with a 7.59 percent share of the market. This dropped Mozilla's Firefox – which has long been the second-place browser behind Chrome – into third place.
Now, at the start of August, we're getting some fresh numbers in for the desktop browser market, and things aren't looking good for Mozilla. Microsoft increased its share of the browser market from 8.07 percent in June to 8.46 percent in July. Likewise, Firefox fell from 7.58 percent to 7.27 percent according to NetMarketShare.
[...] As for Mozilla, the company wasn't too happy when Microsoft first announced that it was going to use Chromium for Edge way back in December 2018. Mozilla's Chris Beard at the time accused Microsoft of "giving up" by abandoning EdgeHTML in favor of Chromium. "Microsoft's decision gives Google more ability to single-handedly decide what possibilities are available to each one of us," said Beard at the time. "We compete with Google because the health of the internet and online life depend on competition and choice."
[...] Microsoft developer Kenneth Auchenberg fought back the following January, writing, "Thought: It's time for Mozilla to get down from their philosophical ivory tower. The web is dominated by Chromium, if they really *cared* about the web they would be contributing instead of building a parallel universe that's used by less than 5 percent."
Is the browser monoculture inevitable or will Firefox hang in there?
Previously:
Mozilla Teases Chromium-Based Firefox, Then Pulls Back
Firefox Tops Microsoft Browser Market Share for First Time
Netmarketshare Claims Mozilla Firefox Usage Drops Below Ten Percent
Microsoft Intercepting Firefox, Chrome Installation on Windows 10 Insider Build
Microsoft Reportedly Building a Chromium-Based Web Browser to Replace Edge, and "Windows Lite" OS
Mozilla CEO Warns Microsoft's Switch to Chromium Will Give More Control of the Web to Google
Microsoft Employee Sparks Outrage by Suggesting Firefox Switch Browser Engine to Chromium
Mozilla Was "Outfoxed" by Google
Microsoft Edge Shares Privacy-Busting Telemetry, Research Alleges
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday August 04 2020, @05:42AM (3 children)
At least under Windows, it comes in a portable version [portableapps.com] that doesn't have to interfere with other installs. If you don't like it (or the version you downloaded), close it and delete the whole directory. No registry settings, no add/remove programs, no files randomly strewn about.
If you want to try a new version, save off the 'Data' directory (containing all the app settings) from the previous version, drop it over the 'Data' directory in the new version, and start it up. This also allows you to keep a few different versions at a time in different directories on your Windows box.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 04 2020, @06:44AM (2 children)
Sane applications do the same on *nixes. Download a .tar.gz file, unpack it, and everything is self contained, within that directory. I was an early adopter of Firefox, when it was still in milestone versions. (0.51 I think was my first version) You could download the nightly build, and test it - if it didn't do what you wanted, you just delete it, and use whichever previous version did work.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Common Joe on Tuesday August 04 2020, @07:25PM (1 child)
I don't think it's very popular, but I've gotten to like AppImage files when they are available and if I'm looking for portability. That way, you can skip the unzipping altogether. Interestingly, it's a lot smaller than snap installations. A good example to look at is LibreOffice. It's available with Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @01:43PM
+1 for AppImage. The format is so simple. Include libraries, set RPATH to $ORIGIN, insert a stub that extract to tmp (preferably in memory). Fire up a firejail shell (or other sandboxing) and you have it sandboxed.