As Microsoft look to have completed a serious search engine coupe following a major deal with Yahoo, other areas of their software empire are looking far from stable. With today’s announcement that Firefox is nearing a billion downloads, Internet Explorer’s market share stands at just 60%; whilst still a healthy lead – Mozilla now have around a third share – it’s a shrinking margin in an area that they formerly had near complete domination.
Whilst the ten digit figure Firefox has amassed will raise eyebrows, it is slightly misleading. The download statistic covers every download since it was launched back in 2004 and includes all updates and multiple entries by single users across many devices. However, with 31% of market share, which has included some record breaking gains, Mozilla’s Firefox is certainly by far and away the leading competitor to Microsoft’s Internet browser dominance.
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Google Analytics Notes is a really great Firefox extension from EpikOne.
As we all know a website is never truly finished and is constantly undergoing further development and changes. Do you wish there was a way you could keep a record of this and at the same time cross reference this with your website traffic. Well now you can thanks to GA Notes.
Install the Firefox extension and follow the instructions which can be found at:
http://www.epikone.com/blog/2008/10/28/adding-business-data-to-google-analytics-data/
Next time you log into your Google Analytics account and view a profile you will see Show Notes. You can then leave business data in your Analytics account like new design launched or added 3 new sales pages. The notes can then be found on every report at the top stored in a concealable table.
Anyone who has access to the Analytics account and has the Firefox extension installed can see the notes.
Great for building up a history of your site’s development, plus the whole team can stay up to date with the latest amendments to your website.
Google have just announced the launch of a beta version of their new Internet browser, Chrome. This open source application will be launched next Tuesday and will go head-to-head with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Just so us mere mortals can understand what’s going on, Google have very kindly described the release of Chrome in comic book style. I particularly liked the use of the word ‘adopted’ on page 2 of the comic. Look out for that on the next Crimewatch when we’re asked to look out for a suspicious looking character who’s adopted some priceless jewellery from a stately home!
Continuing the policy of appearing not to do evil, this browser will be freely available. With the beta launch, it will be available for Windows users in 100 countries. Mac and Linux versions will follow later.
Google’s VP Product Management, Sundar Pichai said “What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build,” So, that’ll be a browser then?
It will be interesting to see how the community respond to this latest development with open source favourite, Firefox, already offering an excellent browser, supported by many innovative applications whilst allowing you complete flexibility over how you use it. In fact, the only people I can see not enjoying Firefox would be shareholders of large search engine companies.
Browser usage statistics for the month of June again make interesting reading. Microsoft Internet Explorer again is losing market share while both Firefox and Safari continue to be on the increase according to NetApplications.com.
Browser Usage Statistics for June 2008:
|
IE
|
Firefox
|
Safari
|
Opera
|
Netscape
|
Mozilla
|
Other
|
| |
73.01%
|
19.03%
|
6.31%
|
0.73%
|
0.67%
|
0.09%
|
0.16%
|
For a full breakdown and more in-depth analysis visit Market Share
The browser of choice for many, Firefox, is set for a major upgrade soon and Mozilla are attempting to set a new Guinness World Record for most downloads in a day.
Firefox 3 is set to be released on the 17th June. Why not join in the fun and help set a download record? Let’s just hope they’ve got the systems in place for this attempt.
If World records aren’t your thing, why not do it for yourself and enjoy a superior browsing experience? You know it makes sense!
