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I’ve stopped using Chrome a while back, due to it being a too integrated with Google services. However, Chrome is an engineering marvel and well polished. Con
by kentrf 5y ago
I’ve stopped using Chrome a while back, due to it being a too integrated with Google services.
However, Chrome is an engineering marvel and well polished.
Congrats on version 100.
- spicybright 5y agoYou could definitely argue it's the most important piece of software in the world, possibly besides whatever popular OS is running it. For the vast majority of humans, it IS the internet.
- dharmab 5y agoWhat other software would appear in the top 100? I'd guess curl, the major C compilers, the major OS kernels, Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat to name a few.
- nicoburns 5y agoI'd guess Firefox would make the list too, despite having a much lower install base than Chrome. If you include hosted services, then I guess the major ones like Google Search, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Reddit, Wikipedia, etc. I guess email providers too: Gmail and Hotmail at least.
- flatiron 5y agoNginx, Java jdk/jre
- alphabettsy 5y agoIf mobile counts; Safari, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, TikTok?
- nicoburns 5y agoThere was a recent post on HN where it was tangentially mentioned that Chrome has 3.1 billion users! There can't be much software in the world with that kind of reach. I guess stuff like curl, but certainly not end user software.
- wlesieutre 5y agoNot user facing, but there are estimated to be over a trillion SQLite databases in use https://www.sqlite.org/mostdeployed.html https://www.sqlite.org/mostdeployed.html
- nonameiguess 5y agoWhatever Cisco IOS services comprise the networking stack of core backbone routers are effectively used by every single user that connects to the Internet. That's every human user but also all of the devices that connect without needing a user, which is probably a much greater number than the entire human population of the planet.
- cyberpunk 5y agocough libc.so..
- Micoloth 5y agoI mean.. For many many humans, the Internet is Facebook running on a mobile device. Also, do they use Chrome in China? So I don't know about vast majority. Definitely one of the most reliable pieces of software that I use though, no doubt about that.
- judge2020 5y ago> Also, do they use Chrome in China? yes https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3103747/google-chrome-remains-chinas-most-popular-web-browser-even-google https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3103747/google-chro...
- Dig1t 5y ago*for certain definitions of importance If Chrome disappeared I think everyone would still have access to the internet and a lot of people would argue that we'd all be better off for it. You are right though, it can and does have a ridiculously large impact on people's lives.
- brokencode 5y agoSure, there are competitors so that if Chrome disappeared, we’d be fine. But imagine if Chrome had never existed. Chrome was so much better when it came out that it saved us from Internet Explorer hell. I don’t want to picture what Microsoft would have had in store for us if Chrome hadn’t come around.
- pessimizer 5y agoThe only interesting thing Chrome added was process per tab, which isn't particularly interesting. Firefox had at least 25% market share in 2010.
- pkaye 5y agoI feel like Firefox fumbled a bit in the early days of Chrome that many people switched over to Chrome.
- NTARelix 5y agoI might be remembering the timeline wrong, but I was perfectly happy using Firefox when I first heard of Chrome. When I switched from Firefox to Chrome I was very impressed with the improvements in design, performance, and greater set of useful features. Definitely some steps in the right direction, but I believe we had already been saved from IE. These days there are many browsers to choose from (though most seem to be built on Chromium, which we wouldn't have without Chrome) and the competition is fun to spectate. The big improvement for me that Firefox had over IE was tabs, though I'm sure there were many other UX improvements that my young mind didn't recognize or hold onto.
- ben174 5y ago
- haolez 5y agoI'd say the most important software is Excel.
- goosedragons 5y agoNo, that's the most abused software in the world. Poor lil' Excel forced to do things it really never should.
- enos_feedler 5y agoThe same could be said for the browser
- user_7832 5y agoI mean, I don't think students are forced to run an operating system in Excel... (yet?) ;)
- enos_feedler 5y agoThe browser is certainly being tasked as an operating system to run “web apps”
- daneel_w 5y agoNo, but you could argue it's among the most used pieces of software in the world. That's a great distinction. Chrome is entirely replaceable.
- idonotknowwhy 5y agoI only use it when some crappy site is only tested in Chrome and fails to run in Firefox. 10 years ago, I had to use Internet Explorer sometimes for the same reason.
- cyberpunk 5y agoNah, that was gcc.