Filed under: Software, Internet, Internet Tools, Apple
Chrome makes Safari take a back seat
ComputerWorld is reporting that Chrome has surpassed Safari as the third-most popular browser.According to Net Applications, which tracks the browser habits of 160 million unique visitors each month to the 40,000 sites it monitors for customers, Chrome's share jumped to 4.4% for the week of Dec. 6-12, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over Google's slice of the browser pie for the month of November.
Chrome's share during the week topped Safari's 4.37%, said Vince Vizzaccaro, executive vice president of Net Applications. "It appears that Chrome has made a substantial surge in usage market share," Vizzaccaro said in an e-mail.
Not surprising considering how much Google is pushing it. In the last two days I've seen dozens of Chrome ads on Facebook and (more surprisingly) the Amazon.co.uk home page.
Chrome is based on WebKit – an open source web browser engine. WebKit is also the name of the Mac OS X system framework version of the WebKit browser engine that's used by Safari, Dashboard, Mail, and many other OS X applications. I've only played around with Chrome for a few days, but I'm happy to stick with Safari for now (I love my MobileMe sync).
Here's how the top four browsers play out in market share:
Internet Explorer 63.6%
Firefox 24.7%
Chrome 4.4%
Safari 4.37%
What about you guys? Firefox, Chrome, IE (if you're on a PC) or Safari? Tell us what you use in the poll!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
NutMac said 4:23PM on 12-15-2009
Let's face it. While Safari renders fast on both Windows and Mac, its launch speed is slow on Windows, and it is prone to freezes and crashes on Windows. On Windows and Linux, Chrome is my browser of choice (although I use Firefox for its extensive library of add-ons from time-to-time). On Mac, it's Safari all the way.
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Jordan said 4:27PM on 12-15-2009
That's because, once again, Apple cripples its software on Windows machines. Ever use iTunes on Windows?
Joanna D said 4:32PM on 12-15-2009
It is prone to freezes and crashes on OS X as well.
brombl said 7:20PM on 12-15-2009
Agreed with Joanna. Eight-core Mac Pro here, not some ancient G3 or anything, and Safari is just not stable. It's very quick to render, but throws up a lot of beachballs. I can't remember the last time I was able to quit it properly, always have to force it down. It simply can't handle ~150 tabs the way Chrome can. I wish Chrome used native widgets (especially would appreciate the system-wide dictionary lookup), but in many regards I'm finding it superior to Safari.
snugs said 8:56PM on 12-15-2009
@Jordan
ever use office for mac? It's een worse than on windows
Jordan said 9:06PM on 12-15-2009
@Snugs: I have used it, and it is worse. However, it's worse because Microsoft writes it in the Apple style. Seperate windows for all the different toolboxes, akin to Final Cut. This is what makes it horrible and uneasy to work with. Apple doesn't write programs in the windows style. It's been how many years now and iTunes doesn't support Aero?
zouavefou said 4:24PM on 12-15-2009
I'm still using safari, but that's for one reason that my favorites syncs only between safari and my ipod, or I would have left them for chrome which is just so efficient for me !
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vesperblogs said 4:28PM on 12-15-2009
I use Safari now only because I can't bring my bookmarks from Safari over to Chrome. Every time I try, it locks up Chrome. Otherwise, I would be using it constantly. Also, my bank doesn't seem to want to allow me to log in with Chrome.
Safari has been really buggy this version. Every time I try to bring up the Top Sites page, the browser causes my entire computer to freeze for about 20 seconds. This is totally unacceptable and is probably only happening because Apple wrote it and are probably using non-public API calls.
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Robert said 4:29PM on 12-15-2009
Chrome had a huge usage spike when it was released on Windows, then it dropped back to something reasonable. The Mac beta was released recently. I'm betting that it'll drop back after the new wears off.
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Q said 9:43PM on 12-15-2009
I'm a solid Chrome (well, chromium atm for extensions) convert. Apart from no 1password just right now (tbh I only use it for online banking especially, which i don't mind opening the standalone app for), it is a bloodly fantastic browser.
The idea of tab seperation is so incredible that once you've used a browser that has it, the idea of going to one without seems impossible. I used to lose count (and my mind!) of how many times Safari would just refuse to accept any input during use. It rarely crashed, but simply stopped responding. Chrome restricts this when it happens to a single tab, meaning I can often just switch to another one while the buggy page resolves itself.
As soon as 1Password is supported on Chrome I will simply never have a reason to open any other browser.
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gerdozain said 4:36PM on 12-15-2009
I downloaded the chrome beta and Safari still runs faster. I don't see myself switching to any browser in the near future. Now, if only Apple would bring the UI they tested on Safari 4 (I think it was the beta of 4) with the tabs on top!!!
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mick.shea said 4:43PM on 12-15-2009
At work I use a PC, and Safari doesn't handle some Java I use daily, so I use Chrome there. I'm used to the interface from long days on my work PC, and so Chrome has become my favorite on my Mac, too. If both are derived from the same Webkit, I don't know why Chrome works so much better with Java.
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NateF said 5:51PM on 12-15-2009
Adding in MobileSafari's marketshare would probably give Safari the edge.
From another angle, WebKit bowsers are gaining on the main IE alternative, Firefox, which uses the slower Gecko rendering engine.
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Kevin said 3:26AM on 12-16-2009
I like the reliability of Firefox (it works with about any site on the 'net) but use Safari instead, mostly because I have MobileMe and it syncs my bookmarks with my iPhone, but also because Safari uses the Mac's Keychain instead of the method Firefox uses - keeping them only in Firefox. That's not how you build a Mac app. I understand they did it for consistency with the other versions of Firefox, but it's a crippling (lack) of a feature for me.
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SireB said 4:41PM on 12-15-2009
Natually Chrome is playing off google's brand, but Safari is still the fastest browser, with the best UI. For me, tabs at the top of the browser chrome will always lose.
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balls said 4:42PM on 12-15-2009
Firefox. IE as needed. I use chrome for hulu, and google fail (wave).
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chris said 6:54PM on 12-15-2009
After a long thought, I switched to Chrome just for its speed. I occasionally use Firefox but my main browser is Chrome. And now with the extensions available, I am using firefox less and less. (I miss it some time though!)
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Arnan de Gans said 4:45PM on 12-15-2009
Safari all the way, i'm not even considering switching to Chrome. I've briefly looked at it. But decided that since it's made by google its not worthy of my time.
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delphinus87 said 6:06PM on 12-15-2009
why you hatin' on google?
Arnan de Gans said 6:18PM on 12-15-2009
I think they're too arrogant in taking everyone's details and monitoring everything acting like they own the internet. For that reason i avoid as much of their services as i can except for their search engine. Which you just can't work without these days.