5 ms·

The two biggest privacy-oriented browsers, Firefox and Safari, have ~10% and ~5% desktop market share[1]. It seems like the overwhelming majority of people do n

by opencl 7y ago

The two biggest privacy-oriented browsers, Firefox and Safari, have ~10% and ~5% desktop market share[1]. It seems like the overwhelming majority of people do not care very much. [1] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worldwide https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worl...

devoply 7y ago
They prefer the speed of Chrome. So give them that, with huge corporate backing, and privacy features and you have a good chance at taking some stuff away from Chrome.
- nesadi 7y ago
  > They prefer the speed of Chrome. Judging by my experiences as a PC technician, 99% of those people wouldn't know if it's the browser that's slow or their PC or whatever crap adware they've managed to install or whatever. Most people don't know and don't care. Google has just leveraged their position as the dominant search engine to ensure their browser is the default. I've installed Firefox on enough devices to see that users just don't care - they'll use whatever is most convenient at the time and then they'll stick to it because they know it and because of habit. Hell, many people don't know what a browser even is, much less what the differences are between them. It's just that "internet thing".
kyriakos 7y ago
Safari is only available on Apple devices hence the low market share.
- hiccuphippo 7y ago
  And not all Apple customers use it because of the privacy features.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    The number of desktop Apple customers - the only Apple customers that can use a third party rendering engine - is marginal compared to the number of iOS devices.
kgwxd 7y ago
Or they don't know better. There's a very big difference. What's Edges market share? If Edge (or any other browser) suddenly gets added to the privacy-oriented list, the number of people using privacy-oriented browsers goes up, which is the important part. It doesn't matter if they care.
- elcomet 7y ago
  But why would Microsoft do this if it doesn't bring then new users?
  - kgwxd 7y ago
    Because it's the right thing to do. Yes, that sounds crazy to me too, but it's crazy that it's a crazy thing to say.
    - elcomet 7y ago
      Well it's the right thing for users, but not for Microsoft and their shareholders.
      - kgwxd 7y ago
        A "user agent" should only act in the interest of it's user. If it does not, it shouldn't be used.

by opencl 7y ago

devoply 7y ago

They prefer the speed of Chrome. So give them that, with huge corporate backing, and privacy features and you have a good chance at taking some stuff away from Chrome.

nesadi 7y ago
> They prefer the speed of Chrome. Judging by my experiences as a PC technician, 99% of those people wouldn't know if it's the browser that's slow or their PC or whatever crap adware they've managed to install or whatever. Most people don't know and don't care. Google has just leveraged their position as the dominant search engine to ensure their browser is the default. I've installed Firefox on enough devices to see that users just don't care - they'll use whatever is most convenient at the time and then they'll stick to it because they know it and because of habit. Hell, many people don't know what a browser even is, much less what the differences are between them. It's just that "internet thing".

kyriakos 7y ago

Safari is only available on Apple devices hence the low market share.

hiccuphippo 7y ago
And not all Apple customers use it because of the privacy features.
- scarface74 7y ago
  The number of desktop Apple customers - the only Apple customers that can use a third party rendering engine - is marginal compared to the number of iOS devices.

kgwxd 7y ago

Or they don't know better. There's a very big difference. What's Edges market share? If Edge (or any other browser) suddenly gets added to the privacy-oriented list, the number of people using privacy-oriented browsers goes up, which is the important part. It doesn't matter if they care.

elcomet 7y ago
But why would Microsoft do this if it doesn't bring then new users?
- kgwxd 7y ago
  Because it's the right thing to do. Yes, that sounds crazy to me too, but it's crazy that it's a crazy thing to say.
  - elcomet 7y ago
    Well it's the right thing for users, but not for Microsoft and their shareholders.
    - kgwxd 7y ago
      A "user agent" should only act in the interest of it's user. If it does not, it shouldn't be used.