I too would have liked Firefox to win but I think it's nothing to do with advertising the reason for Firefox declining and it's simply that Firefox has lost it's mojo. From version 4 they killed their browser.
They may have redeemed themselves recently but I wouldn't care to look, Chrome picked up where Mozilla left off. Chrome is a fantastic browser and I never have issue with it. Firefox 4 and 5 used to crash at least once per day. If it wasn't crashing then the ram usage was spiralling out of control.
I would rather put my trust in Google than Microsoft, I believe that Google have the interest of a faster more up to date web than Microsoft do and I go with their values.
I live in Chrome and Firefox all day for web development. Firefox is playing catch up but they didn't kill their browser. Maybe just starved it for a while. And while I agree I'd rather google then microsoft have browser dominance, they're not perfect and shouldn't reign supreme.
In the past month, Google has advertised on the new tab page for their chrome book using a mechanism for emergency updates (in some cases people can't close the ad), and started a fight in the chromium community about supporting Dart directly. Neither one is a major offence but both exhibit they have their own interests at heart.
Spdy is another good example. (I like Spdy, and I think its a good idea, but...) SPDY™ is trademarked to Google. It currently has no rfc. (Just a mostly empty draft. http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-agl-tls-nextprotoneg-00.htm... ) It was developed internally and not opened to comments. They control the largest implementations both server and client side. And while they're selling it as a way for everyone to make the web faster, they still have full control. (Apache support is here, nginx doesn't support it, Amazon uses it heavily for the kindle fire.)
> I would rather put my trust in Google than Microsoft, I believe that Google have the interest of a faster more up to date web than Microsoft do and I go with their values.
As someone who is deeply concerned with Google's dominance of the Web (and increasingly mobile), I would dearly love for you to list out your reasons for trusting them, so that I can change my mind. In the meantime I'll stick to Firefox, loss of mojo or otherwise.
You don't think webOS is innovative because it isn't dominating? Therefore you believe there is a relationship between domination and innovation? I'm sorry, but I disagree. Brand loyalty, marketing, and just plain inertia factor into all of these technology choices that we make every day, including what browser we use. I choose not to use Chrome, not because I think its dominating, but I do not share your trust in the company behind it (and you have yet to explain why you do).
Although I should have mentioned this in an earlier response, you have actually twisted my words. I actually said
>I would rather put my trust in Google than Microsoft, I believe that Google have the interest of a faster more up to date web than Microsoft do and I go with their values.
Not I trust Google over every company in the world. And I state my reasons for trusting Google over Microsoft. Because I think they are more in tune with the values of what I think the web should be about.
Yes I also think the more domineering companies are the most innovative. Do you think if WebOS was so innovative and fantastic HP would have canned it? Would HP (or google) be anywhere near the level of phone we have today if it wasn't for the iPhone?
You're right in that it has a lot to do with marketing and Google would not have got Chrome to where it is today without their ability to market it but if it was crap then there would have been no uptake? They don't get a 25% browser share from developing something that doesn't work?
Look at Google Wave, massive marketing, everyone looked forward to it and it was rubbish. It's not all about marketing or love for a brand. It's a mixture of everything. I also don't start dismissing a companies products because they are getting too big, I don't want the next best thing, I was the best tool for the job. Regardless of who it is (within realms of common sense)
I'm a Google fanboy, but I'm not sure if I want them to have a majority in the web browser space.
While they do move faster than MS, they also seem to have an habit of working on something internally, then one day they announce the feature in Chrome, dump a library to the other browsers and expect them to just integrate it.
And since they control the biggest websites, there's immediately an unfair pressure; "Oh, you don't want to use SPDY? Well, then your browser will be slower on Google sites than Chrome" (they don't say - or probably even think - that, of course, but it's true)
Mozilla talks a lot about their development and seems to be more interested in a better web, and not just a better browser.
I kind of agree but I think in another respect they have looked at an ageing protocol and made it better. They may not have consulted with everyone but it also doesn't mean that everyone will implement or agree with what they are doing.
They are not forcing SPDY on people but I am looking forward to an integration into IIS when it does happen.
They have created something in a hope that it does standardise the way we make web requests.
Microsoft actually did this without telling anyone years ago, at least google is open about it.
Although they seem a contradiction my argument is that they took on a development life cycle that was far above their means.
I would have loved Firefox to come out on top as for me they changed the web when they introduced tabs but they have been slow on innovation since. I feel Chrome gave them a kick and they responded, companies shouldn't operate like that, innovation should continue regardless.
I say I wouldn't care to look because I have moved on, Chrome goes above and beyond what I want from a browser, speed and stability. If Chrome starts to go in the direction of how Firefox went I would have no issue in trying another browser. I don't have time for allegiance to a browser, I just need it to work.
If any individual browser wins, we've lost the browser wars. As long as chrome and firefox are roughly even and together over 50% I'm content. Honestly I'm not sure I would want it any other way.
They may have redeemed themselves recently but I wouldn't care to look, Chrome picked up where Mozilla left off. Chrome is a fantastic browser and I never have issue with it. Firefox 4 and 5 used to crash at least once per day. If it wasn't crashing then the ram usage was spiralling out of control.
I would rather put my trust in Google than Microsoft, I believe that Google have the interest of a faster more up to date web than Microsoft do and I go with their values.