Firefox? Who's that? Opera says 4.7 million have downloaded version 9.5

Filed under: Web services, Microsoft, Mozilla, Social Software, web 2.0, Browsers

Firefox? Who's that? Opera says 4.7 million have downloaded version 9.5

by Drew Olanoff Jun 17th 2008

Are the oldschool browser wars starting up again? It sure seems like it.

Flock has a preview of their version 2 out, Firefox launched version 3 today, and Opera launched version 9.5 on June 12th.

Who's missing from this uber release party? Oh, that would be Microsoft's Internet Explorer...the browser with the #1 market share. After their less than stellar (and way less than standards compliant) version 7, Microsoft better come up with some EPIC for Internet Explorer 8.

Opera as you know is focused on security, speed, and mobile.

The sometimes over the top Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner stressed that Opera 9.5's most innovative and most important feature is the cross-link between your desktop and mobile devices. A feature that other browsers haven't even bothered to start playing with yet.

Will Opera's mobile first, desktop second strategy work? We shall see.

4.7 million downloads in 5 days is impressive, but can Firefox surpass that in a single day? Not if they can't keep their own site online.

Stay tuned!

Tags: browsers, firefox, flock, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, microsoft, mozilla, opera

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Josh said 3:40PM on 6-17-2008

Yeah... the site has been up for a little bit now and I downloaded it quite speedily too. Only doing it for the record, though. RC3 is amazingly good.

Nick said 4:08PM on 6-17-2008

I don't think Microsoft is going to do anything about Internet Explorer 8. I think they gave up.

http://www.bbspot.com/News/2008/06/microsoft-abandons-internet-explorer-8.html

noselot said 4:38PM on 6-17-2008

Yeah, microsoft don't need to have a stunning browser, they integrate it in their OS and have loads of other software but mozilla relies on its os.

As for FF3 it only scored 71 on acid3 (http://acid3.acidtests.org/). See it yourselves.

Quikboy said 9:13PM on 6-17-2008

Stop posting spam. That article is obviously false. IE8 is at least probably the biggest step MS has taken into doing what people say. Despite the bugs and rendering issues, it's at least shows that they're doing "something" in the browser world.

I kinda think Activities and WebSlices are kinda cool.

Nick said 10:21AM on 6-18-2008

It was meant to be a joke. I understand that some people use IE and love it. I got turned on to Firefox via Linux back in the days of the lizard and haven't looked back yet. Personally I think that whatever Microsoft does with IE8 is just another drop in a bucket for their slowly dwindling market share.

Then again none of this matters because in the end its just a web browser. There are lots of them out there for different people/browsing style.

jfjb said 5:58PM on 6-17-2008

i got also a 73 on Acid Test, with my FF2 add-ons and settings -- but for NoScript and Adblock plus.

Who has an original default settings nowadays?
I think the OS or the browser doesn't matter as much as the user's (err... knowledge and) real-life preferences and not his/her reactions to propaganda or other marketing techniques.

A comparative scale is valuable to the user when the user can relate to the elements of comparison. Otherwise it's a catchy name with someone else's opinion attached to it.
My take, of course, is based on my understanding of the average level of comments I read before drinking.
Oh, it's time for a drink...

Sorry, lord, I have sinned. I shall have two J&B today.
Happy FF3!!!

jfjb said 6:17PM on 6-17-2008

here are some easily-accessible rules of engagement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid3

I keep learning and I'd like to know how many bloggers are familiar with DOM and JavaScript, or even about (any) Web Standards?
Oh boy, was I the last one to hear about that?
Sorry, got to go, ciao!

jfjb said 6:08PM on 6-17-2008

1,532,137 DL at 6PM, EST... Florida time

Is that good enough for a prediction of a million DLs or not?

jfjb said 6:09PM on 6-17-2008

... was talking about FF3 download, of course

bowlby4 said 7:25PM on 6-17-2008

I downloaded FF3 today, but my default browser will continue to be Opera (now 9.5).

w said 1:36AM on 6-18-2008

opera is one of the softwares never disappointed me over the years.

Geir said 6:59AM on 6-18-2008

tallman, Opera is the browser that scores 83 on the Acid3 test (version 9.50), FF3 scores only 71.

Opera 9.50 will be my primary browser, FF3 will be my secondary browser, and IE7 will be used when I access my netbank (unfortunately it won't play with superior browsers).

Geir said 7:04AM on 6-18-2008

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Firefox&word2=Opera

Damian said 7:53AM on 6-18-2008

Hmmm, because the Acid3 test is clearly the be all and end all of web standards?

I've been following Acid3 progress carefully (and even had correspondence with Hixie, the creator, about a certain issue with it) and while it'll be good to get most tests fixed, some seem a little pointless. I would also like to point out that Mozilla looks at each test on a case by case basis rather than blindly implementing them. Several times after Opera's 100/100 score, Mozilla have spotted mistakes in the test, which means Opera mustn't of been reading the spec properly.

As pointed out before, if you really want to see which browser has long term commitment to specifications, check what the pass rate was for browsers before the test was announced.

VitaminCM said 2:50PM on 6-18-2008

This is actually a REAL browser war. There are four legit competitors that all have some ammunition. I love Firefox, am forced to use I.E. at work, use Safari on my iPod and occasionally use Opera (not a huge fan).
Oh, do Flock, Maxthon, Konquerer, et al technically count?

Paul said 10:09PM on 6-18-2008

Sorry Opera but Firefox has already reached 4.7 million in one day and the count is still rising.

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord

tallman said 3:30AM on 6-18-2008

Opera? What's that?

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