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Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)

By | July 8, 2010, 3:00am PDT

Summary: Firefox carved out a niche as an IE alternative, but Google Chrome is stealing some of its thunder. Which of the two alternative Web browsers do prefer? Take our poll.

During the past five years Mozilla Firefox has quietly carved out a nice little niche as an alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but Google Chrome is starting to steal some of its thunder.

Firefox’s share of usage in the Web browser market peaked at 24.7% in November 2009. Since then it has dropped back. It was at 23.8% in June, according to NetApplications and reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The primary culprit behind the Firefox dip is the other alternative browser — Google Chrome. The Internet search giant launched its Chrome at the end of 2008 and it has been on a steady climb ever since. Chrome reached global market share of 7.24% in June, and it has taken that market share at the expense of both IE and Firefox.

The rise of Chrome could also have bigger implications for Firefox. Google was previously Mozilla’s top benefactor for the Web browser, supplying engineering resources and a contract that paid Mozilla to make Google the default search engine in Firefox. Google’s engineering support for Firefox has already ended and the lucrative search deal with Mozilla expires in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Web itself is preparing for a major step forward with HTML5, which will introduce powerful new capabilities that Web developers can build into their Web pages. As a result, the rise of HTML5 will likely accelerate the migration of even more applications to the Web and will make Web browsers even more important.

Yesterday, Mozilla released Firefox 4 Beta 1, with a new interface and several new features that appear to be influenced by Chrome. But, it remains to be seen whether Firefox 4 will help Mozilla maintain its Web browser market share — especially without the backing of Google — or if Chrome will continue to chip away.

With that in mind, it’s time to ask all of you techies which of the two you prefer.

Poll

Between Firefox and Chome, which alternative Web browser do you prefer?

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Topics

Google Inc., Mozilla Firefox, Web Browser, Google Chrome, Mozilla Corp., Web Browsers, Internet, Jason Hiner

Jason Hiner is the Editor in Chief of TechRepublic. He writes about the products, people, and ideas that are revolutionizing business with technology.

Disclosure

Jason Hiner

Jason Hiner has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Jason Hiner

Jason Hiner is the Editor in Chief of TechRepublic, an online trade publication and peer-to-peer community for IT leaders. He is an award-winning journalist who examines the latest trends and asks the big questions about the technology industry. He previously worked as an IT manager in the health care industry.

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Talkback Most Recent of 92 Talkback(s)

  • I'll stay with Mozilla Firefox
    Bob Sutor made some good points in his article entitled "
    Saying it out loud: IBM is moving to Firefox as its default browser":
    http://www.sutor.com/c/2010/07/ibm-moving-to-firefox-as-default-browser/

    "Some of us started using it because it was new and fast and cool. I tried it for those reasons, but I still use it for the following ones:

    * Firefox is stunningly standards compliant, and interoperability via open standards is key to IBM?s strategy.
    * Firefox is open source and its development schedule is managed by a development community not beholden to one commercial entity.
    * Firefox is secure and an international community of experts continues to develop and maintain it.
    * Firefox is extensible and can be customized for particular applications and organizations, like IBM.
    * Firefox is innovative and has forced the hand of browsers that came before and after it to add and improve speed and function."

    I would add that with Ubuntu 10.04 Linux equipped with AppArmor and a preconfigured standard LSM profile for Firefox, there is no comparable browser for a safe internet experience. Unlike Windows, AppArmor LSM sandboxes the FF session so there is no possibility of Zero-Day attack escalation.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Dietrich T. Schmitz, ~ Your Linux Advocate
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate

    I find it interesting that you mention Firefox's "benefits" as if Google Chrome doesn't have the same capabilities:

    [Straight from the Google Chrome Website]:



    Chrome is designed to be fast in every possible way: It's quick to start up from your desktop, loads web pages in a snap, and runs complex web applications fast.

    Chrome's browser window is streamlined, clean and simple.
    Chrome also includes features that are designed for efficiency and ease of use. For example, you can search and navigate from the same box, and arrange tabs however you wish quickly and easily.

    Chrome is designed to keep you safer and more secure on the web with built-in malware and phishing protection, autoupdates to make sure the browser is up-to-date with the latest security updates, and more.

    ...and in regards to being open--it is... Ever heard of Chromium?

    I wonder if you've decided against Chrome simply because Ubuntu comes with FF. I've used the pre-installed FF3.5 on Ubuntu. I was underwhelmed so I switched to the stable Chrome release... Instant relief. Chrome actually runs better on Linux than it does on Windows (something I'm sure you can be proud of, Mr. Advocate.

    Either way, Firefox is better than IE (for now)...but I'm not quite sure your level of conviction should be had in regards to Chrome...

    As always, use what makes you sleep at night, but don't propose that Firefox is somehow ahead of Chrome in development, community, and accessibility. The numbers show things in a different light.

    Lastly, do you really base your personal decisions on corporate policies? That seems counterproductive to your whole "free" outfit...
    ZDNet Gravatar
    G-Systems
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @G-Systems

    LSM isn't an afterthought. It's designed into the Linux Kernel.

    Google software engineers have made their concerns regarding Windows architecture known.

    Caveats:

    http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/sandbox#TOC-Other-caveats

    "The operating system might have bugs. Of interest are bugs in the Windows API that allow the bypass of the regular security checks. If such a bug exists, malware will be able to bypass the sandbox restrictions and broker policy and possibly compromise the computer. Under Windows, there is no practical way to prevent code in the sandbox from calling a system service.

    In addition, third party software, particularly anti-malware solutions, can create new attack vectors. The most troublesome are applications that inject dlls in order to enable some (usually unwanted) capability. These dlls will also get injected in the sandbox process. In the best case they will malfunction, and in the worst case can create backdoors to other processes or to the file system itself, enabling specially crafted malware to escape the sandbox."

    Read more about Ubuntu Linux security features here:
    https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Features#Matrix

    Say what you will, but, the Windows 7 IE protected mode and Chrome sandbox are NOT impervious and as such Windows offers no 'equivalent' to Linux LSM AppArmor, which polices any App you designate by a strict set of predefined policies. Any departure from those policies will result in the a permission denial or in a worst case the process id will be killed by AA.

    The Google Chrome Engineers stated their 'caveats' concerning the Windows 7 security model for good reason. It's not bullet-proof.

    The wise folks at Ubuntu have made the choice to have AppArmor standard on their distribution, Fedora chose SELinux, both of which are LSM-based and both are designed right from the start in the kernel.

    Step back and look again more closely before you bark.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Dietrich T. Schmitz, ~ Your Linux Advocate
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @Dietrich

    Does App Armor come enabled on linux distros by default? Does a linux distro show you documentation on how to implement it during or after the install process? Am I still open to the vulnerabilities that App Armor would protect me against with Linux out-of-the-box? If I went to a Linux forum and asked how to function with App Armor, would everyone have the knowledge to "support" me. Or would they ask why I am even using it because "linux doesn't need protection"?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Jared Neale
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @G-Systems - I trust Chrome as far as I can throw an old Cray server. There is nothing that remotely makes me think of Chrome as secure seeing as Google still can't (won't?) remove poisoned search results. Doesn't give one much confidence to do online banking or any other form of secure transaction, especially considering that everything you do in Chrome is monitored at 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4.

    That said Chrome is fast and pretty stable on most systems. They still need to fix the stand-alone installer so that Chrome isn't installed in the %userprofile% and fix the Google Pack so that it is compatible with Server OSes. Chrome can be installed by any user regardless of rights using the stand-alone installer since the user has full rights to their profile directory, unless the netadmin has specifically banned the app from running in group policy, this is a major security problem for organzitions that have to be PCI, HIPPA, and/or S-OX compliant.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    88Fan
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @G-Systems The numbers? Or the false advertising. Didn't anyone else notice Google was pressing the 'forward' button their browser to achieve the speed? Is that really all it takes to convince people Chrome is the shizz? I've used Chrome. I didn't like how it was jumping out of it's sandbox, and I really did not like the answer that was giving to the problem. Considering the answer that was given ... I will never use Chrome.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    prof.ebral
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @G-Systems

    I can't say that I would agree with you. Google Chrome is a Advertising Bastard. Google does so much marketing it is the biggest reason I am not going to ever install it. As for compatability, I knwo my sites wont' be supportiong the special areas, and in my experience with my customers, they are for the most part abotu to remove it, and by seeing the comapatability I have witnessed by using theres, and there complaints on how the internet isn't working that great, I can't deny that Chrome better do something before they loose the few people that actually use it.

    The Tbbed Browsing is lame, Sure it loads pages fast, but what good is that if it takes forever to even switch tabes, there is no customization to it, your basically stuck with 20% of the options to customize when compared to the other browsers, even the trashy horrid browsers.

    yes Chrome has its own profits to the user, but really there isn't anythign that really distinguishes it. okay maybe that is a bit off in accuracey, it offers Tracking marketing companies and harvests email gimiicks to spor ttohe users to ruin what little enjoyment is still available in the email, and instant messenging!!

    What happened tot he old schol web, I can only say it is dead, so why support a company that uses stock markets, and Marketing to fund there projects? I dont' get it, and looking at the recent 1-2 years of the progress in all browser based on end users who use the different browser the most, well Google is startign to fall back!!

    I am glade to, but if it weren't for advertisign companies that use google to advertise in some form, I wouldn't have the steady work. It is a win loose situation for me, but I tell them all not to use google, and save money on removal maintenance!!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Ez_Customs
    12th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @G-Systems Fire Fox, to me, is a Super Star. Other browsers are faster, smaller and more useful in their own ways but they will never be Fire Fox until Fire Fox is dead.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    skatezz
    21st Sep 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate
    Check Chrome on Windows. It was the only browser that wasn't hacked in the last Pwn2Own event. And they use Vista / W7 security features. So it looks like W7/Vista has some nice security features.

    http://blog.chromium.org/2008/10/new-approach-to-browser-security-google.html
    "The sandbox uses the security features of Windows extensively; it does not reinvent any security model."
    ZDNet Gravatar
    dvm
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @dvm

    See my remarks above regarding 'caveats' from Google Chrome Engineers.

    Thanks.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Dietrich T. Schmitz, ~ Your Linux Advocate
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @DTS
    I read the article, and it was very informative. My point is that Chrome used the Windows security features and wasn't hacked in the event. So there is very nice security capabilities in Windows Vista/7. Maybe FF can be more secure in Linux, but Chrome in Windows proved to be very secure, at least based in the pwn2own event.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    dvm
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @dvm Wait. That's pretty unfair. I read that too and at that time Google Chrome suffered from the same WebKit bug as another browser that uses webkit. Julius hack'n'attack just did not figure that out.

    And their sandbox breaks jail. It's IE5 all over again.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    prof.ebral
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Fanboi

    "I would add that with Ubuntu 10.04 Linux equipped with AppArmor . . . "

    Or Windows with Comodo Internet Security.

    "so there is no possibility of Zero-Day attack escalation."

    I don't think there's a security expert in the world that would agree with such an assertion.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate:

    IE has been a piece of crap since it's debut. Chrome is not much better! Although I am not a developer, I have used Firefox since it's inception, and always test the updates. Too bad can't remove from OS. Also, it's about time IBM did something worthwhile. They did screw up the PC HW & OS business.....
    ZDNet Gravatar
    rhgarne1@...
    8th Jul 2010
  • RE: Alternative browser showdown: Firefox or Chrome? (poll)
    @Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate
    ZDNet Gravatar
    pguibord
    8th Jul 2010
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