One of the major advantages Firefox has had over it’s competitors over the years has been the number of add-ons, or extensions, available for use. Something that has not been embraced to the same extent by the its major competitors. This may all be about to change.
For some time now Firefox has held majority share in the browser market, with most recent figures showing 47% of people use Firefox. The closest rival is Internet Explorer (versions 6, 7 & 8) with 37.7%, you can see a breakdown of the remainder of market share in the table below.
In looking at the usage statistics, it is important to remember that Google Chrome has only launched a Mac version of their browser this month. It was at this time that extensions for the Windows version of the browser also went live, soon to be launched for the Mac version. For those who can’t wait, there is already a way for Mac users to start using extensions here.
The problem some users may find after installing several add-ons to the Firefox browser, is that it tends to slow the browser down significantly. Google Chrome is already a faster browser than Firefox, so when extensions inevitably slow the browser down, it should still perform better than its rival. If the number and quality of the extensions available on Chrome match those of Firefox in the near future, I know which browser I’m choosing.
Why haven’t I mentioned Internet Explorer in all this. I guess this is because I see Chrome directly targeting Firefox users. Let’s face it, there are too many organisations using IE, let alone your average internet user who simply doesn’t care what browser they use, they just want to ‘surf the web’. The fact that the number of IE6 users grew (yes, you read correctly) from October to November this year exemplifies this. These aren’t generally the people that are going to be swayed by slight advantages in browser speed and add-ons, at least not yet.
Firefox seems to already be showing some nerves, suggesting Firefox users change search engines, from the Firefox default Google, to Bing. This arising after Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, made some concerning comments on internet privacy.
It may still be too early to tell, but if you look at the table above, in the last month Firefox lost a small amount of market share which seems to have gone directly to Chrome. It will be quite interesting to see how this trend progresses in the coming months.
You can take a look at an ad created by Google UK to promote Google Chrome below.
UPDATE: Google Chrome seems to be increasing its advertising efforts with a wraparound ad in London’s METRO. They have also launched a site where you are able to send Chrome as a Christmas gift to your friends and family.
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