Microsoft’s announcement last week that they plan to use the Chromium engine from Google for development of Microsoft Edge on the desktop caught everyone’s attention.
From Android to Google Search to Google Ads to the engine that drives the highly popular Chrome browser and now Edge, where does Google’s influence stop?
Well, for one, it stops at Mozilla.
The company behind the Firefox browser was quick to respond to the Microsoft news, with their Goodbye, Edge post, encouraging everyone to consider the health of the internet and try Firefox.
Try Firefox as your default browser for a week and then decide. Making Firefox stronger won’t solve all the problems of online life — browsers are only one part of the equation.
But if you find Firefox is a good product for you, then your use makes Firefox stronger. Your use helps web developers and businesses think beyond Chrome.
Me?
I was disappointed to read the news about Edge.
I’ve gone through the browser wars before. And I would prefer not to repeat those browser wars again.
Which had me wondering about browsers.
How Often Do You Use a Different Browser from Your Standard Browser?
For me, I use different browsers every day.
On my Android smartphone, my favorite browser to use is Firefox Focus.
And on my Chromebook, my only choice is Chrome.
On my laptop, I alternate from Firefox to Chrome every week.
But I was curious, what about other people? How often do they use a different browser?
After posting my poll on Twitter, I waited five days to find out.
From 60+ people who participated in the poll as well as sent me messages, here are the results.
When was the last time you used a different browser than your standard browser?
— Deborah Edwards-Onoro (@redcrew) December 7, 2018
Almost 6 in 10 people who participated use a different browser on a daily basis. Close to 90 percent of participants use a different browser since last week.
And just over 10 percent of participants can’t remember the last time they used a different browser.
My original hypothesis was that more than half the people who participated would use a different browser.
Why did I think that?
Because a good number of people who follow me on Twitter work in web design and development.
Using a different browser is part of testing the sites and apps they develop, to make sure they will work across browsers and devices.
Summary
While not an official type of poll, my quick five-day poll offered interesting insights into browser usage even though I know the participants weren’t a diverse group of users.
I’d be curious what the results would be for a poll of the public.
I’ve been using Chrome for years, but recently have started using Firefox Quantum as well. I like its Tracking Protection feature, but have been surprised ar the number of sites that don’t fully work when it’s enabled.
I don’t think a browser monopoly is a good thing so hope people continue to use alternatives like Firefox.
Hi Claire,
Thanks for stopping by. Chrome was my mainstay for years, but this past year I decided to start alternating between it and Firefox. I noticed issues with Firefox Focus, that some content doesn’t display, but the sites work.