Browser wars: We're becoming two (maybe three) timers

While it's a lot of fun portraying the browser wars as a zero sum game, the reality is that users are becoming a bunch of two-timers and, in some cases, three-timers.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes asks whether the love affair with Mozilla's Firefox is waning. That's a tough question to answer. I'd say that geeks have definitely fallen out of lust with Firefox given that it's not the shiny new browser anymore.

Firefox has become an old reliable sedan -- it does the job and gets you where you need to go, but isn't going to turn a lot of heads. Internet Explorer falls into the same category. Why? Google Chrome has changed the landscape. Speed is important, but sandboxed browser crashes are more important. Chrome is the sports car of browsers for now.

However, the reality of our everyday use is changing. As I've noted before, I use three browsers -- IE, Firefox and Chrome -- depending on what they're good for. Let's face it: Some apps just tend to work better with certain browsers. Browser makers like to tell you that they all work with every page and Web app, but in practice it's just not the case.

Folks who use multiple browsers are going to create a few interesting market share studies. We may find that there are no dominant browsers---and that's a good thing. The more browsers duke it out the more innovation we'll get.

Ultimately, I'd argue that security is going to separate the browsers winners and losers, but not for a while. For now, it's all about trying every browser in the market and picking two or three you like for daily use.

Also see: Browser war centers on once-obscure JavaScript

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