Image via CrunchBase
A couple of months ago, when I first downloaded Google Chrome, I was skeptical about whether I would use it at all. I’m (was) a Firefox junkie, and have a number of addons installed, and I love the Firefox experience. I was of the opinion that with its vibrant developer community, Firefox had the “network effect” to withstand an onslaught from Mountain View.
From a personal standpoint, I was wrong.
Nowadays, Chrome is my first choice browser. And what I had considered a plus for Firefox has actually turned out to be the reason to wean me away from it. Addons, while providing tremendous value to the browsing experience, also consume resources. If you’re the type of user that has an average of 20 tabs open (and I know a lot of people who would think that is a small number), you’re already pushing the software; plugins make the deal worse.
Chrome counters this by dumbing down the idea of browsing. All you see is a set of tabs on top and an address bar. No status bar, no menu bar. I know you can configure Firefox this way; but Chrome provides this right out of the box, which is a plus. Additionally, the fact that each tab is a separate process is a boon. In my experience, Chrome crashes much more infrequently compared to Firefox. This is not because Firefox is inferior; a malfunction in any tab can crash Firefox; in Chrome, you lose just that tab. Throw in a faster JavaScript engine and a more useful 404 page into the mix, and you have a winner.
This comparison reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend who works for Microsoft. Addressing my criticism that Microsoft was slow with product releases, especially Windows, he said that one of the major time-sinks for the Windows team is to make the new OS compatible with every major and not-so-major piece of software around. This includes everything from industrial strength enterprise systems to obscure games. Any incompatibility can blamed on the OS, and it becomes a PR problem for Microsoft.
Conventional thinking is that the reason behind Windows’ success is the network Microsoft has managed to spawn around the core product. Yet, this might be true across the board and in all situations. In an industry characterized by flux, the core player might be bogged down by the existing network relationships. Networks might ensure that the entrenched product is successful, but breaking free of the entrenchment becomes really tough for the company that owns the core.
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Tags: Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft, network effect, Windows
Syju on
With everything out on the table, I still prefer firefox… its just an automatic process when choosing a browser! It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.