@Gargron Google funded it to grow and dethrone IE, and then google competed with it and won.

@Gargron
I am a Vivaldi user for similar reasons.

The only reason I don't switch (back) to Firefox is the profile manager that Vivaldi has.

@Gargron I work at a University, Google handles our email and a lot of other services, so we're encouraged to use Chrome. I think that's common in academia, at least here in the USA. But I use FF anyway ;-)

@Gargron the reason is the integration of Chrome with Google products and the fact that at some point there was a malware that targeted Firefox that was hard to remove. That's why I called it quits

@Gargron I’m using the Brave browser since several years. It is Chrome minus tracking and ads. As ad blocking is implemented in the browser core and not added as an extension, it’s much faster and obviously harder to detect. At least I can still use YouTube without ads and nobody complains 😀.

@Gargron

For PC's, can't speak for Apple anything, for those who want (ed) voice search, google on chrome was the only game in town until just recently when Bing added voice search to Firefox (to promote their newly fangled search product), that's gotta be some of it that I don't hear mentioned often

@Gargron Yes it's a great little browser!

@Gargron There is a quiet life without Google.

@Gargron Life is even better without Facebook or WhatsApp.

@Gargron I'm stuck with safari, and i'm happy with it... The system integration with iMessages and iDevices is completely killer features.

@Gargron I had a co-worker try to upbraid me about Firefox until he saw how many tabs I had open.

@Gargron I have no choice but to use Chrome professionally, but I also find it strange that FF has such a low share.

@Gargron Market share is so low because all users of Firefox tend to use adblockers with analytics blocking.

@Gargron And with Sidebery extension built on top of containers Firefox becomes simply transformative! 😍

@Gargron I'm using it since Netscape.

@Gargron Container tabs are the killer feature for me.

@Gargron There's nothing to be surprised about. It's a consequence of their policy when support for old extensions was discontinued. Their attitude towards users is disgusting.

@Gargron same here. I use FF on my private laptop and my phone bu at work I am forced to use Chrome, I never understood why 🤷‍♂️

@Gargron No one using Opera? I’m happy with it in my Windows machine.

@Gargron "as fast and intuitive" probably not a convincing argument and "container tabs" an unknown and too advanced feature.

@Gargron

I have been using desktop Firefox since it was released. It can be slow when it first loads up. I use DuckDuckGo on my phone.

@Gargron
Yes, the container tabs are completely awesome.

However, I found that after using them what I really needed/wanted were separate profiles in separate windows.

I have several work places, home and two special interest windows that I use.

@Gargron I wonder if you have experienced something like this when using firefox
https://old.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/17ywbjj/whenever_i_open_a_youtube_video_in_a_new_tab_its/k9w3ei4/

maybe that has driven people away

@Gargron
I remember when Chrome first came out, it was markedly faster and light. Obviously not rich in featureset but impressive. Nowadays all browsers are quick and Firefox definitely has the most to offer. Don't forget to follow @firefox they're already here on the Fediverse, good on them.

@Gargron spot on. It’s shocking.

@Gargron I just switched back a couple months ago after google finally threw a haybale of stupid anticonsumerism on the camel's back.

I had originally dropped firefox for chrome a decade ago or so, because Firefox had become so bloated and memory intensive, and chrome was the sleek new thing.

So it goes.

@Gargron

I go back and forth between the two. . . I was 100% Chrome but am slowly moving away. . .

@Gargron I tried Firefox again for a few weeks this year (twice), for obvious reasons. But as a year-long Chrome (and Android) user, i can't get over some of the pretty cluttered UI-elements-/quirks and (to a lesser extent) the breaks in the Android-integration.😶‍🌫️

@Gargron
I've been using it since it first came out. Love it.

@Gargron

Years ago I had switched to Firefox on both Ubuntustudio and on my phone, but on the Android phone Chrome integration runs deep, and then on the upgrade to 23.10 Ubuntustudio Firefox suddenly became so slow as to be unusable. Is it my gfx card? My nic? Who knows, who has time to find out. I'm hoping an update someday corrects it. Someday soon I hope.

@Gargron

Did the same. And Chrome collects so much information, and stops, ad blockers etc. Best thing is Firefox and I use Duck Duck Go to search.

@Gargron

I think there are more extensions for Firefox, too. Also, for people who like Chrome but want to use a libre version, there's Ungoogled Chromium.

#FOSS
#LibreSoftware

@Gargron I'm using Firefox ever since I can remember. It's great.

@Gargron

@Gargron I really wish there was real PWA support, it's the only thing that keeps Chromium installed on my system.

@Gargron If it were purely by merit, I suspect more people might use Firefox. But whenever you go to, oh I dunno, Google, to search the address of leekspin, Google is like "hey why don't you use this browser instead? It's so much better than competing brand." Then muggles just install it with no knowledge of just having been duped. Other browsers don't have fair competition and it's up to the nephews and nieces to install it whenever they go fix a relative's computer full of viruses.

@Gargron Chrome is about as sluggish as things get.

@Gargron You're not alone Eugen...

@Gargron @thomasfuchs It baffles me when I see tech-savvy people using chrome

@Gargron I've tried not using chrome, but there are websites I run across that only allow chrome. My best example is the Dish Everywhere app. And other websites merely have better functionality in Chrome.

@Gargron People hate freedom, especially when it comes with privacy

@Gargron same here!

@Gargron I’m not a Firefox user (yet) but this looks great. About container tabs:
https://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/what-are-firefox-container-tabs-and-how-do-you-use-them/

@Gargron and their business model is also underrated

@Gargron container tabs are my favorite feature as well

@Gargron How's firefox better than chrome?

@Gargron I switched from Firefox to Chrome a couple of years ago when a certain browser add-on I use very frequently suddenly wasn't developed for FF anymore, only for Chrome. It's been available for FF again for months now, but I've got a huge session on Chrome with hundreds of tabs organised in tab groups, and I fear I can't convert that easily, I'll have to open all those links one by one in FF:

@Gargron Honestly, I switched over to Edge from Firefox, professionally, and they have one feature that would keep me from ever going back. I can split the screen, two tabs open on one screen, and then link them so any link I open on the right opens on the left. Does so many wonders for some applications. Personally, I use Sidekick.

@Gargron Hey Eugen, I've been using Firefox for years, don't let that market share crap worry you. As long as Linux Mint promotes it it should stick around. Cheers @FruitInTheRoom

@Gargron every browser needs container tabs like yesterday. Arc does a decent job, but I really wish Safari (especially on iOS) would catch up.

@Gargron do you have thoughts, advice about Brave?

@Gargron Same here. To bad google is now so big that they can for example make youtube bad when not using a chrominum browswer. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/17zrfml/youtube_has_started_to_artificially_slow_down/

@Gargron #Firefox has had its ups and downs where speed and reliability are concerned, but I’ve stuck with it since the Netscape days. Then to Phoenix, and now Firefox.
I don’t think there’s any getting off this train for me 😂

@Gargron
Big fan of Firefox for 15 years. A friend introduced me to it back then.
Friend is long gone, browser ist still there. 😄

@Gargron I absolutely love Firefox! I really don’t understand how so little people don’t even know what it is?!

@Gargron I've switched from Twitter to Mastodon about half a decade ago. It's just as fast and intuitive, and decentralisation and Open Standards are a game changer. It always catches me off guard when I see its market share is so low. :)

@Gargron do you stay on default settings, which let companies to spy on you?

@Gargron yeah, it's almost like its main competitor is an immensely powerful and unethical monopoly in the same market sector, who can utilize their iron grip on every factor of online life to artificially boost their product, and even force people to use it!

@Gargron
I also use Firefox because it has its own engine - #Google otherwise has a monopoly with #Chrome, while #Mozilla continues to use #Gecko. And I mean, #Firefox is very fast if it doesn't have 200 add-ons running...

@Gargron I used Firefox for a long time, but too many websites wouldn’t load correctly, so I switched to Edge. Is Firefox any better these days?

@Gargron What's great about container tabs?

I'm trying out Firefox the past couple of days. Looks good, but as a Mac user, I find Safari to be a good choice too.

@Gargron I use it, too. In the last six months or so, I've only found one site that didn't allow me to access it with Firefox.

@Gargron Firefox is so much more user friendly, let alone the fact that it doesn't have the spyware Chrome does.

@Gargron finally made the switch myself just this year. It’s only marginally more clunky than chrome but I’m willing to get used to the different ui out of sheer spite and disdain for google

@Gargron I use Firefox personally. Chrome can go shove it.

@Gargron What throws me off guard (as a Firefox user) is how much faster Chrome is.

@Gargron I use Firefox the same way I use duckduckgo. It works for 90% of everything I need, then fall back to Chromium. My one case where I use Chrome is the microphone for Google meet. My ThinkPad inbuilt microphone sounds terrible with FF but OK with Chrome. I used headphones for a while, but no one else in the team does so switched to without.

Container tabs are awesome as are tab groups, as is rust. It's scary when something so good has so little market share

@Gargron @Yehuda Many people had switched to Chrome when it was new as Firefox had performance issues which were increasing per release.

@Gargron Same. I also switched to DuckDuckGo as my default SE on all devices and I’m still able to find whatever I’m looking for.

@Gargron I use firefox almost exclusively but claiming its just as fast isnt true. its pretty close for most normal websites but chromium still beats it in terms of speed

@Gargron I love the facebook container extension. I separate my college work and my personal browsing with it.

@Gargron @Girgias

Has nothing to do with the quality…

Remember IE?
It’s called abuse of dominant market position and it has been going on for ages

@Gargron I always use Firefox as well.

@Gargron Well when Google pulls nonsense like intentionally slowing it down on their properties (the latest being a 5 second delay on YouTube), I’m not surprised regular non-tech users switched to Chrome. It also doesn’t help Mozilla was late to the game introducing GPO support so corporations blocked it since they couldn’t control it. But I love it and will keep advocating its use.

@Gargron I always wondered if Microsoft would have been better picking Gecko as the engine to power Edge, rather than chromium.

@Gargron I did notice Angular performed significantly better on Chrome, but nothing besides that. I guess Google tech performing better on Google tech is no surprise.

@Gargron I somehow feel uncomfortable when using every browser except firefox. After some websites stated that they "do not support non chromium browsers", I got myself a user agent changer extension. It's funny how everything suddenly works without a problem 🤡

@Gargron @jstatepost today I noticed FF has a tool that claims to identify fake amazon reviews. Unsure of its accuracy but it's a great idea.

I've de-chromed all the things, including derivatives like Vivaldi and Brave. Safari is still my daily though.

@Gargron market share differentiates based on country which is interesting

@Gargron Heh, just this week I got tired of how Firefox handles tabs and switched to Vivaldi, and I'm loving it.

@Gargron

I alternated between both for about 6 years and Firefox is comfortably my daily driver across mobile and PC. However, if I must use Chrome in the odd case, I default to Vivaldi.

@Gargron I'll be back to Firefox as soon as they propose PWA (and auto PWA) on desktop. That means: never. As they decided that is not useful.

Today I'm using Brave, Tor is integrated, PWA support, 5x less memory usage than firefox and it's fast.

@Gargron I prefer using Firefox, but it's not "just as fast" as chromium based browsers, especially on Android.

I use it on Linux since it's the only browser that supports HW accelerated video.

If I need speed or if I'm on Android I use Brave.

@Gargron I think I'm doing something wrong as Container tabs just doesn't work it seems. Something I should take time to look into.
The checkbox is ticked, but I guess I need to set something more.

@Gargron And don't forget Firefox for Android, it's just so nice!

@Gargron There has never been any correlation between “most adopted” and “better product” in tech. The most popular choice is always dictated by marketing or business conditions.

@Gargron Right, I just donated again!

@gargron I assume it is mostly mobile devices running chrome these days. People prefer the default and rarely move away if it works well enough.

@Gargron #Firefox is a good template browser... I use #arkenfox user.js or #librewolf... ☺️

@Gargron I remember the fuss chrome created, back then when it was released. Back then, it actually was faster than firefox, looked cooler and had that sandbox feature, that everybody was lauding.
Firefox in comparison quickly got this "old-fashioned" label and had trouble to shake it off in a tech world that prioritizes novelty.

@Gargron I stopped using Firefox when it was at version 55. Never going back to this crap ever again. I curse it every time I have to use the Tor browser, which is based on it.

There are no good browsers left any more, but Opera, Vivaldi, and Brave are marginally usable.

@Gargron Just downloaded Firefox. I'll test it, maybe I'll like it. Thank you very much. Good luck and have a great day.

@Gargron Firefox had a very good market share but at some point they lost focus and a decline started. I'm actually thinking about coming back to Firefox after years on Chrome or chromium/WebKit based browsers.

@Gargron funny. I used Firefox until chrome came out. And now so much google stuff is handycapped on Firefox I can't switch back.

@Gargron With the shenanigans Google is pulling with Chrome, (Adblock/youtube) I hope this drives more people over to Firefox and not to a Chrome rebuild.

@Gargron what is container tabs?

@Gargron
@Gargron
They've been seemingly intentionally hemorrhaging users for years now, because they're alienating their core base of users by claiming that they're increasing security by disabling and completely wrecking plugins/ extensions/etc., simultaneously making the entire reason the same user base Loves firefox feel betrayed: customization and the power to control how and what happens on their own computer.