Filed under: Internet, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, Browsers
Firefox 3 download day made possible by Windows
On June 17, 2008 Mozilla attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the most downloads in a 24 hour period. According to Mozilla over 8 million downloads were recorded. Currently they are awaiting word from Guinness if they were successful.
But there was one thing we wanted to know about this number. Out of the 3 major operating systems in use today which one blazed away with the most downloads. So we decided to ask and a Mozilla spokesperson gave us the following numbers:
- Windows 79%
- Linux 13%
- OS X 8%
Now the number 1 spot didn't surprise us at all since Windows leads in overall computer operating systems it's almost a given that most of the downloads would come from Windows. But what was a bit surprising was that Linux bested OS X in the numbers of downloads.
One could say that Ubuntu, which is a very popular Linux distro comes packaged with Firefox so it's only natural that more downloads would come from Linux users. But according to w3counter, OS X accounts for 4.95% of the operating systems in use while Linux is barely half of this at 2.01%
So this strikes us as odd. What would cause OS X to slip to 3rd place in the number of downloads? Do these numbers suggested that Apple users only like to use Apple apps? Or did a large group of Mac users not get invited to the download party?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ben King said 9:35AM on 6-28-2008
It's because for many, Safari is much more stable and integrated into Mac OS X. When I'm running Firefox 3 on here, it feels awkward and out of place. Mac users typically like using apps that feel like a Mac OS X app.
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Napalm said 9:38AM on 6-28-2008
Well thats obvious. Most Apple users I have met and spoke to always take the time to tell me how superior their OS is and their Safari browser is to anything else on offer.
Why I could be having a conversation with someone else about... Well lets say a Windows driver issue, and if an Apple fanboi is nearby he wont be able to resist the urge to join in the conversation. Will he offer up some useful advice? No! He will say "You should buy a Mac instead".
Its not a surprise that the Mac community is trailing linux in the Firefox downloading. Firefox is not an Apple product so therefore cannot possibly be any good!
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Christopher Lloyd said 9:42AM on 6-28-2008
There's other browsers for OS X? Scary. Did Apple authorize this "Firefox" to access the internets.
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John Laur said 10:52AM on 6-28-2008
One more point here -- most linux users do not make the effort to download and install the binaries directly from Mozilla. Most obtain the package via the vendor and either these downloads did not count or were not ready for "Download Day" .. of course the Linux userbase is probably also the most likely to sit there repeatedly downloading Firefox just to push up the counter, so I guess it probably evens out.
As to firefox on the mac -- unless you have a recent Intel mac where the difference was not apparent, firefox 2 was basically a dog compared to safari. It took forever to start and was slow; plus it did not operate like any other mac app. To some, having the extensions etc. was worth it, but to your average mac user there is no compelling reason to make the change. Firefox 3 has of course made a lot of progress with its shortcomings on the mac, but the uptake is going to be slow going.
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spc said 10:55AM on 6-28-2008
its because Mac users are either girls (that dont know what the hell is FFox) or they are a bunch of little boys acting like girls that actually dont know what the hell is FFox.
cheers boys!
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michas_pi said 11:03AM on 6-28-2008
I have used Mac OS X for almost three years now and Firefox since 0.8 beta. I fell in love with extensions and never touched Safari. Maybe it is better in some areas (like PDF management) but until Safari supports the extensions I use daily, I'm not using it.
That said, I participated in Download Day and my iMac G5 has been rocking Firefox 3 since then. No issues here, green across the board.
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Eric said 11:14AM on 6-28-2008
I am a recent Mac user; switched from windows. I use Firefox because I fell in love with it during my windows years.
But most other Mac users that I know do not have the same feelings. They haven't had felt the pain of IE as recently.
Safari is less of a browser, in my opinion, because of the customization/extension options of Firefox. But, Safari has a Mac App feel that some people just go crazy for.
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C.G. Blogs said 11:42AM on 6-28-2008
While I'm no graphic designer or web developer, I know quite a few people who are and one thing they had to say about Firefox is that it still doesn't render all web pages properly. And that isn't to say that each browser isn't going to have there own issues with poorly developed pages. But Safari and, now, WebKit adhere to stricter standards which, for some, means a lot - especially to those artsy people who tend to use Macs for their work.
I love the improvements in Firefox 3. I'm using it now. But before, I was a WebKit user and I still go back to it for some sites because they don't render properly in Firefox for the Mac; they do render properly in the Windows version which says to me that Mozilla isn't giving the same kind of attention to OS X as it is to Linux or Windows.
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Josh said 11:46AM on 6-28-2008
I downloaded Firefox 3 onto 8 computers, 6 of which were Windows, 2 were Macs. I use Firefox for my main browser (I wouldn't if the lovely GrApple theme from http://takebacktheweb.org wasn't available simple because it doesn't feel like an OS X app without it) and only use Safari to check if something is wrong with a site (for example, Digg uglified their layout the other day). Overall, Firefox is the better browser.
But most people who are on Macs tend to feel that Apple apps are the best and no one else can compete. Generally, this is true. There is no competitor for iTunes or Mail or iCal or Finder or any number of programs (even Quicktime after Perian and Flip4MacWMV). But certain programs (Safari, iChat, iDVD) just cannot compare to other apps available (Firefox, Adium, Toast).
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Aron T said 12:14PM on 6-28-2008
One tangible difference is that Firefox is not as colorspace aware as Safari is and being a photographer that is essential. That being said I participated and downloaded FF3 and while I use Safari as my main browse I do fire up the Fox every so often.
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Kjell (Mac User) said 1:17PM on 6-28-2008
I was waiting that my essential extensions get an 3.0 upgrade. I need the browser for work, not only for surfing.
And yeah..
if you "just surf the web" the Safari will do the trick.
It is hard to convince mac users to use Firefox because to them it will always feel a little slower. And the "Better than IE" argument does not count on Mac. So there is really no reason to switch.
If you are a webdeveloper on the other hand there is no way around Firefox in my opinion. And because of that we can't just switch on day 1.. we need the extension developers to upgrade and most of them wait for final release too.
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Peter said 3:13PM on 6-28-2008
Mac users have been trained to accept and love whatever Apple offers. They wouldn't think of looking into another browser when Apple provides a perfectly good one right in the OS.
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mugczar said 3:14PM on 6-28-2008
Could it be that, even though 'Download Day' was postponed until June 17 because of some issues with FF3 and OSX 10.5.3 and fixes needed to be made, no changes actually were made and the Mac version offered on that Tuesday for download was exactly the same as release candidate 3 that, according to Mozilla, had problems?
And it DOES have problems - I am running FF3 both at home on a PowerBook G4 (aluminum) running 10.5.3 and at work on a Mac Pro running 10.4.9, and FF3 probably crashes 4-5 times a day on both systems.
Update, please!
(disclaimer - I don't actually think this affected the download numbers)
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WolvenSpectre said 4:02PM on 6-28-2008
I just think that this whole download day is such a farce... Operating systems and Antivirus updates would easily total more downloads in a 24 hour period.
Don't get me wrong... I like Fx 3, I use it as my main backup browser and to run the extensions available for it while my main browser is Opera.
I think this whole thing was a business ploy to distract from Opera's new launch of the next major version upgrade on the desktop, Opera 9.50, which launched about a week before Fx.
Opera in its first week of the new version doubled its number of downloads to 4.5 million. Doubling ones market share in a single year is usually big news, but all of the hype with the Firefox 3 release and Download Day. All of a sudden the small amount of coverage that Opera gets in the news is suddenly disappears with the hype around this 'record'.
I guess as much as I like Firefox, and wish that Opera would include an add-on feature, I have gotten a little tired of hearing all the 'New' features that are so 'Awesome' and 'Amazing' in Firefox that I had been using for a long time in Opera.
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chris joseph said 4:32PM on 6-28-2008
you must have missed the various posts about firefox not being aesthetically pleasing to mac users, and some even see features as being "ripped off" from Safari
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ridgecity said 4:35PM on 6-28-2008
I really wish this had actually happened with real people, that install base translates to ultra-geeks that get software on release date, The install wasn't even available as an update, you had to know about the launch to go to the page. That's why Linux did so good.
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Rizzle said 6:22PM on 6-28-2008
I think it's worth looking at what the dominant "alternative" browser is for each platform - on Windows, it's Internet Explorer, whose problems are large enough that it's *almost* mainstream information that IE sucks.
On different Linux distros, what is the dominant browser? Konqueror? Opera? Whatever it is, it seems (to me) that *Firefox* is the dominant browser on the Linux platform. (Doesn't Ubuntu even ship with FF installed?) So, the fact that Linux beat out OS X is (in my opinion) because it represents a larger portion of the main Linux crowd.
In OS X - yeah, it's more of an alternate browser like in Windows, 'cept that Safari ain't half bad.
Thoughts?
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grapeshot said 8:35PM on 6-28-2008
My Mac still runs Panther, and FF3 can only run on Tiger or Leopard. I'm stuck with FF2 for the time being.
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Ben Belden said 11:15PM on 6-28-2008
Correct me if I am completely off base here, but when Hardy Heron launched it already came with the beta of Firefox 3 installed. When the update manager runs, it automatically notifies the user and downloads the new version. So to all those Ubuntu or other Linux users, it was just a matter of another update on Download Day whether they were aware of it or not. On OSX and Windows, a user would have either have to have known about the final version being released or have had Firefox check for updates and tell them, which in my experience can take a couple of days. Plus, as others have already kind of said, Linux users are typically much more involved with their OS and up on technology and open-source things, so they would probably have been much more aware of Download Day than anyone.
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supernova_hq said 12:51AM on 6-29-2008
I understand the Safari thing, but really amazes me about Linux beating Mac OS is that most Linux people update their software through their repositories, which last time I checked, Mozilla did not count.
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