Chrome beat Safari in December

Here's an interesting fact that dropped over the weekend: Google Chrome, the browser by the search company with a silly name, actually beat Apple's Safari browser in overall usage during the last month of 2009 (Chrome first beat Safari midway through the month, but new month-long data shows that Chrome is here to stay). Internet Explorer continues to lose users, but Chrome has been taking over the ranks pretty quickly, moving in above Safari as the number three browser of choice (after IE and Firefox, of course).

Bad news for Apple -- after their release of Safari for Windows in 2009, you'd think they'd have hoped for a little more in terms of browser share at the end of the year. But it looks like they're going to have to do something even bigger than that to fight the current on this one -- that is, if they want to do so at all. With a relative newcomer topping Safari so quickly, it's possible Apple could back off of promoting and upgrading their proprietary browser entirely. Still, with Chrome using Webkit, the fact is that for the average user, things are getting better all the time.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/02/internet-explorer-losing-…

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Here's an interesting fact that dropped over the weekend: Google Chrome, the browser by the search company with a silly name, actually...

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Rick

Hmm, how about actually getting media attention with new releases? These stealth releases go unnoticed. Get some reviews on tech sites, let some geeks get some early beta time with the browser. People won't get what they don't know is there.

January 05 2010 at 4:38 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

As a web designer/developer I don't care who takes market share away from IE as long as it is taken away. Since Chrome is based on webkit and webkit is the most standards compliant and progressive of the bunch I say kudos to Google and keep it up. Microsoft needs to stop developing IE, but unfortunately that's not going to happen, so competition is the only way to take away that market share.

January 05 2010 at 12:40 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Sam

The more interesting question is, how many OS X Safari users are moving to Chrome - not many, I'm guessing? I'd assume that most Mac users are Safari users too. IE is more likely to lose to other browsers, and Chrome's had a lot of hype.

January 05 2010 at 11:29 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Sam's comment

pax copia

I use Firefox instead of Safari.

January 05 2010 at 11:36 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Evilhomer

Is it all possible that the numbers are due to the fact that Chrome is brand new and there are lots of people taking it for a test drive? I am doing just that. I do like Chrome and am using it now but it's no where near ready to become my primary browser.

I think that anything "new", especially from Google, is going to generate a lot of initial interest. That's not to say that many people won't adopt Chrome. I'm all for that. Especially if it pulls market share away from MS. I just think that the high usage right now is curiosity based.

January 05 2010 at 10:01 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Colin

I've been using Chrome for OS X for a while now and LOVE it. I often leave Safari for a few days to try something else but this is the first time I've stuck with a new browser.

January 05 2010 at 7:15 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jon crossley

I love Safari at home on my MBP but having tried all three browsers on my Windows XP in the office, I'm afraid Chrome is my favourite. Unfortunately Safari seemed to be buggy and crashed too often...

January 05 2010 at 4:29 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Tim de Jardine

Ever since Chrome for Mac came out I couldn't be happier.

January 04 2010 at 11:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Gustavo

I love Safari on both Mac OS and Windows, I love the elegance of Apple products --like iTunes-like Top Sites and History-- and wouldn't be switching browsers since Safari syncs all my bookmarks via MobileMe, I don't care how fast other browsers claim to be.

Note, I know that on Windows MobileMe can also sync bookmarks with other browsers, but why bother.

January 04 2010 at 9:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Cowfodder

A week ago it was still December, and none of the numbers were final. Troll somewhere else moron.

January 04 2010 at 8:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Greg

My tests (as well as others) have shown Safari to be faster. The problem is, it doesn't have the same customizability, and it's from Apple. Despite the fact that people love Apple products, they're also a bit slower to adopt. Not to mention Apple didn't do as much advertising for their browser.

January 04 2010 at 8:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Greg's comment

FightTheFuture

i don't really understand why Safari is on windows. iTunes is on windows because it's part of the iTunes business model. why Safari? just to get people familiar with iPhone Safari? then why isn't Mail on windows, or iPhoto or iCal?

seems like a lot of wasted resources towards a group who either:
(a) uses Firefox because they think they're stopping evil Internet Explorer.
or (b) uses Internet Explorer cause they don't care about web browsers.

January 04 2010 at 8:38 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply