“But those days are pretty much over, as most users would not complain about the browsing experience they get today from installed browsers,” Gold said via email. Gold Associates, said previous versions of Microsoft browsers, such as early Internet Explorer, offered a bad user experience, were slow, and often didn’t display all web pages correctly unless they were formally supported by IE. That pushed a lot of users switch to Chrome, Firefox, and others. Jack Gold, principal analyst at research firm J. Soon after Google Chrome’s multiplatform launch in 2010, however, Firefox began losing ground. Along with a long list of add-ons available to it, Firefox was praised for its speed and security measures compared to IE. In 2009, Firefox use peaked at 32%, overtaking Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE 7) at the time. When security issues arise on WebKit, all iOS browser users are equally vulnerable until Apple finds, fixes, and publishes patches. “This is just one reason why a range of browsers, using different browser engines, is desirable,” Mozilla said.

Browsers are powered by a ‘browser engine,’ which significantly impacts the capability of a browser,” Mozilla said.Īpple, Mozilla noted, requires all developers deploying iOS browsers to use Apple’s own Safari WebKit engine. Browser users also fear that changing will cause them to lose years of data such as passwords, bookmarks, and history, and because OS developers don’t help make porting that data easier, further switching is hindered. “This magnifies the power of the operating system, which can choose either to stifle competition (by doing nothing or even inhibiting switching) or to help consumers (by making porting data easier),” Mozilla argued.įorcing users into a preselected browser also stifles innovation, Mozilla said. “The lack of browser diversity leaves people exposed when it comes to improved security and privacy.

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