SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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:
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: 5, Insightful) by leon_the_cat on Tuesday August 04 2020, @02:34AM (6 children)
I couldn't be bothered with that UI fight anymore, plus the attitude of the developers to feedback sucked imho. Using Pale Moon instead.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Tuesday August 04 2020, @02:40AM
Same.
Well, the New Moon build on Mac, and Basilisk on Linux. I gave up on Mozilla when they they broke all the extensions a couple of years ago.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 04 2020, @03:08AM
Palemoon is my "primary". I have a small stable of others, chrome based and gecko based, in various stages of security lockdown. I don't rely on any one of them.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by driverless on Tuesday August 04 2020, @06:23AM (3 children)
Do Pale Moon, Waterfox, and others get counted individually in the surveys or are they all classed as Firefox? If they're all lumped together as "Firefox", are there actually any Mozilla Firefox users left or have they all jumped ship to the forks that still retain some sanity?
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday August 04 2020, @01:49PM
I use firefox - I don't care that much (except not chrome) and can't be bothered with getting something else working.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @08:53PM
Perhaps not coincidentally, the percentage using Firefox almost exactly equals the percentage who self-identify as transgendered people.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by ChrisMaple on Wednesday August 05 2020, @01:52AM
I use 4 versions of firefox: 28, 52, 64, and 71. The older ones have the best add-on capability; I only use the newer ones when the older ones can't render a site.
Mozilla puts a great amount of effort into worsening the user experience.