Only 7 percent of active Firefox browsers running on Macs?
In the midst of counting the total number of Linux users in the world, Mozilla's Asa Dotzler reveals a startling statistic:
The Mac only accounts for roughly 7 percent of active Firefox browser installations.
Sure, Windows has massive market share, but I would have thought more Mac users would be running Firefox than their Windows peers. Meaning, I had assumed that whereas Windows users would be content to let inertia guide them to Internet Explorer (IE), a greater proportion of Mac owners would make the choice for Firefox, instead of Safari that comes preinstalled on the Mac, netting the Mac a greater percentage of active Firefox installations.
This adds a new dimension to Mozilla chief lizard wrangler Mitchell Baker's comment to me about the "muscle memory" that keeps users stuck on IE:
The Internet became mixed in people's minds with Microsoft. Many people conflated Windows with "the Web." Our first great challenge was to convince people that they could improve their life by making a choice in their browser. To this day, most people think of "the Internet" as the blue "E" (IE's icon).
Apparently, it's not just Microsoft: Apple's Mac fan club has the same problem. When viewed against this backdrop, it borders on amazing that Firefox has managed to carve out more than 20 percent market share in the browser market.
Someone should give Mitchell and company (er...Foundation) an award. Or, better yet, a juicy bundling deal that installs Firefox on desktops so that Mozilla doesn't have to swim upstream as much as it has.
Imagine what Mozilla's Firefox could do on a level playing field.
Follow me on Twitter at mjasay.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
I do have it on my computer, and used to use it for some of the banking and credit card websites that Safari wasn't compatible with. But that became a non-issue a long time ago. Keeping two web browsers is way more hassle than the minor convenience a few plug-ins would offer me.
have you even taken the time to see what plug ins suit you? I don't think that there is a person who won't love plugins if they take the time to see what Plugins have to offer
How do you explain the popularity of Webkit? The underlying technology for Safari is showing up everywhere. Firefox is typical of open source. Too many developers drive it all over the place. The interface looks like it was designed by a committee, and it's too much hassle to deal with plug-ins that offer minor improvements.
Safari sucks about as much as IE, maybe a bit less
*You can make the interface whatever you want with plugins, you can't complain about that
*Webkit is open source and apparently your anti open source(typical of Apple fanboys)
*plugins offer huge improvement, they change interface, block ads, make development easier, automate boring tasks and so much more.
*You checked plugins for SAFARI!!???!!! check plugins for FireFox
You realize webkit is the source code for safari? The webkit browser is the most current safari browser available.
But...the root of the problem truly is that most people don't even know what Firefox is. My put safari on my dads windows computer, and now he thinks that the "internet" is safari!
Saying "The Mac only accounts for roughly 7 percent of active Firefox browser installations." isn't the same thing as "Only 7% of Mac users install Firefox" which is what your article seems to indicate.
- Asa
I recommend using pith helmet it's a great way to block ads and scripts in safari
also
I recommend heading over to Pimpmysafari.com
it's basically a site where you can customise your safari
to match if not surpass the customizability of FF
I agree with your gut reaction, but think it doesn't hold up.
Also, @stefanvolos -- the advantage is the addons that allow you to extend and customize Firefox way more than you can with Safari.
Anyways people at work still install and use Firefox even though it is against corporate policy to install non-approved applications.
Typical Apple basher...
It isn't just the looks, it is the way it functions. All the extensions and themes in the world will not make Firefox on the Mac work like a proper Mac application.
I use Firefox on my work PC (but don't think that much of it there either - best of a bad bunch), but loathe it on my Mac. There are simply more better browsers for the Mac than Firefox, than there are better browsers than Firefox on the PC.
The most egregious mistake in your review is your ignorance of Flock - also made by Mozilla and gaining fans.
Also, Firefox and Safari combined account for approximately 99% of total Mac browser usage. There simply aren't any successful alternatives on Mac. On WIndows, IE and Firefox account for a bit less, 97% so there's a little bit more competition but not really much.
And finally, in both Mac and Windows, the browser that shipped with the OS accounts for about 3/4ths of all usage on that platform. So even factoring in Firefox, there's really not a lot of alternatives doing well on Mac or Windows.
- Asa
Speaking of which, also note that Google Chrome is based on the same engine as Safari, webkit. Essentially Chrome is just a different user interface for Safari.
no, Chrome has a different jscript engine
Overstating things just a little bit aren't you? Safari and Firefox do not account for 99% of total Mac browser usage at all. Gecko and WebKit maybe but not Safari and Firefox themselves, and there are plenty of successful alternatives on the Mac.
just do a google search I use Pimpmysafari.com
infact the plugin called inquisitor which is basically spotlight for the web was first created for Safari
but has now made it's way into FF also
I'm perfectly aware that there are add-ons for Safari. What I was saying is that the chief advantage of Firefox is all the add-ons. I don't care about the add-ons so Firefox looses that advantage. Safari's snap back feature and better bookmarking system win out.
If you want add blocking or other addons for Safari chack this blog
http://pimpmysafari.com/
on my PC I use Opera,FF,Safari,maxthon and now Chrome too
wat Can I say I'm a bit of a Browser geek
I always love finding new browsers and checking them out
finding that perfect implementation of every single feature so I can find or make a add-on for FF
but in the End I always end up using safari more than others {even on my Pc}
it's just the most intuitive and easy to use browser ever made, at least IMO
Customizing is good but wat I've learned is too much customizing only slows down productivity !
In summary, I bemoaned the current state of Firefox on the Mac as bloated and slow compared to previous iterations. I use Camino mostly, followed closely by Safari and Firefox a distant third (and used primarily to watch videos at Bloomberg.com).
Again, I'm all for supporting open source (I do use Camino) and giving consumers choices. I'm also glad there is a browser that gives IE a run for its money. However, Firefox needs to go on a major diet and fix the memory bleed if I am going to use it more.
I should also add that Firefox's customizability means a lot to me, too.
- Asa
According to Net Applications, about 26% of Mac browser usage is Firefox and about 21% of Windows browser usage is Firefox.
So, we're actually doing better against Safari on the Mac than we are against IE on Windows, but not by a lot and the conclusion of this article is right on. About 20-25% of computer users seem to be happy to just stick with whatever came on their machine.
- Asa
That's the flaw in the logic.
all it does is confirm what we already knew.... That windows users dominate the market... I mean windows users account for 90% of the computer market.... then mac and linux share the rest..
this is no surprise... their is hardly a fraction of as many mac users out there to download firefox... more linux users use firefox than mac users anyway.
- by shootthecops February 20, 2009 2:58 PM PST
- some of my mac user friends are the least technologically versed people i know.
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- by pentest February 20, 2009 3:57 PM PST
- Good thing they are using Macs if that is the case.
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- by kcotham February 21, 2009 12:21 AM PST
- @pentest
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- by shootthecops February 23, 2009 8:04 AM PST
- @kcotham: among the middle/uppermiddle class the iProducts have truly become fashionable.
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (100 Comments)Of all the people I have dealt with in tech support and in the general public that are totally clueless about computers or "least technologically versed" as shootthecops put it, have been Windows users. Why? Because they buy the cheapest thing they can get a Wal-mart or Best Buy or wherever. Stay on topic, okay?