By Allan Maurer

Google’s Chrome browser is poised to grab the number 2 browser rank from Mozilla’s Firefox, and I’m not surprised.

Do you use Mozilla’s Firefox browser or Chrome? I switched to Firefox from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer years ago, because at the time Firefox was faster and its add-0ns made lots of online tasks quicker and easier. Now, however, I find Firefox seems to have bloated to the point where it has as many, if not more problems than Explorer.

Not infrequently, when trying to reopen it, Firefox delivers that “Firefox is still running” message that more often than not requires restarting a computer. It is certainly slower than Chrome and will just freeze up for a second or two at times for no obvious reason.

I still like it’s add-ons and changing browsers can be a pain once they’re set up to suit me – particularly if you work online as I do.

Chome may overtake Firefox by December

Apparently, I’m not the only one doing more of my work (and play) via Chrome rather than Firefox (though I still haven’t switched entirely, despite considering it). StatCounter, the Irish firm that tracks browser use, shows that Chrome is on track to surpass Firefox by December.

In the first week of September (2011), Chrome boasted a 23.6 percent share of the browser market, while Firefox had 26.8 percent. Internet Explorer, for all its faults, still the dominant browser (and according to recent tests, the most secure, h’mmm) had 41.7 percent. Now that Explorer has adopted many of the best features of both Firefox and Chrome, it may be time to give it another try. Is it still suffering from the bloat that slowed it down and caused browser crashes?

Still, Chrome is gaining users so quickly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it overtake IE. It gained eight percentage points since January, up 50 percent.

Fireforx and IE both dropped 4 percentage points in the same period – obviously losing them to Chrome.

If these trends continue unabated, Chrome will pass Firefox by December.

So just what the heck happened to Firefox, anyway?

Even going by the different numbers measured by Net Applications, which pegs Firefox at a 22.6 percent share and Chrome at 17.8 percent, the pace of Chrome gains means it would bypass Firefox by mid-2012. Net Applications figures include the massive Chinese market.

So just what the heck happened to Firefox, anyway? Among other things, it seems to update every week or so, generally disabling a handful of incompatible add-ons every time (including a security plug-in). Lately, it will just stop loading new sites while I’m working. Earlier this week I had to grab the urls and move them to Chrome when it did that.

A Google search showed that others were having similar problems. Chrome, on the other hand, updates silently and without causing any troubles – so far.

At our recent Digital East conference in Tysons Corner, VA, one app development expert noted what should be obvious: software products have work well and if they don’t, people find something else – fast.

I’m not crazy about everything in Chrome. I’m used to finding the new tab button on the right, not the left, and I haven’t mastered all its eccentricities yet, although I will in short order if I finally make Firefox (or Explorer) my secondary browser and use Chrome as my primary one. I just hope they don’t, over time, junk it up to the point where it’s advantages disappear as they have with Firefox.

Southeast Venture Conference, February 29 – March 1, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA – Where Smart Money Meets Smart People.
www.seventure.org

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Tags: Allan Maurer, Chrome, Chrome overtaking Firefox, Firefox, Google, Internet browser wars, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Mozilla, Net Applications, StatCounter, which browser is best? whatever happened to Firefox? IE more secure