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posted by martyb on Tuesday August 04 2020, @01:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-use-Lynx,-you-insensitive-clod! dept.

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:


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @06:50PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @06:50PM (#1031348)

    Supposedly, browsing without adblock and also running any javascript a remote site throws your way, chrome/chromium-based browsers are faster. But, if you are browsing the web without adblock, and allowing all random remote code you stumble upon to run on your computer, I would say that you are doing it wrong. And, with ublock origin and umatrix, firefox is very fast.

    I use firefox for almost everything, but keep chromium installed for broken sites that only work with chrome. For me, this is mostly airline sites. So, I guess another "benefit" is that chrome/chromium browsers work with broken ie8^H^H^H chrome-only websites. I expect this issue to get worse now that ms is just re-badging chrome.

  • (Score: 3, Touché) by tangomargarine on Tuesday August 04 2020, @09:21PM

    by tangomargarine (667) on Tuesday August 04 2020, @09:21PM (#1031423)

    Supposedly, browsing without adblock and also running any javascript a remote site throws your way, chrome/chromium-based browsers are faster. But, if you are browsing the web without adblock, and allowing all random remote code you stumble upon to run on your computer, I would say that you are doing it wrong. And, with ublock origin and umatrix, firefox is very fast.

    Why would you do that? They have uBlock Origin and whatnot for Chrome. I know because I run it.

    If Chrome is fast without an adblocker, just imagine how much faster it'll be *with* one!

    --
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