Mozilla Firefox vs Google Chrome – Advantages and Disadvantages
Google released Chrome back in 2008, and although it received a lot of good reviews, it never became widely used… until recently. The update that everybody was hoping for finally happened a couple of weeks ago, with Google announcing Chrome would fully support extensions.The biggest appeal to Firefox is the extensions – as you are able to completely re-skin, extend and improve. Now that Chrome is copying suit, has it become a genuine contender in the browser market? We believe so, and here’s why.
Google Chrome Advantages over Firefox
Speed – Originally, Firefox was a refreshing change from Internet Explorer and other browsers due to how fast it was. From opening the program to opening web pages, Firefox seemed to have got it right, but now Chrome has taken it a step further. Chrome is the ultimate in fast browsing. With Internet connections getting faster and faster, a browser should be able to keep up with the pace of rendering images and content, which is what Google have managed to do perfectly (as you would expect being such an Internet giant).
Simplicity – Firefox can often seem a bit cluttered due to various buttons, options and information bars. Chrome on the other hand has arranged everything in an organised manner, meaning the focus remains entirely on what it should be – browsing the Internet.
Extensions – The extension support in Chrome has been done fantastically. The ease of installing new plugins means no restart is needed, and the browser speed doesn’t suffer when lots of extensions are installed. The functional support for addons means full support for Grease Monkey scripts too, which is a great added bonus.
Google Chrome Disadvantages
With advantages comes disadvantages – but that isn’t to say there are many. The biggest disadvantage could be simply ‘why switch?’. Chrome is fantastic at what it does, but if you are already using Firefox then there isn’t that much of an incentive to make the jump over to Google’s browser.
To succeed in gaining a higher market share in the browser market, it may be best for Google to target Internet Explorer users as opposed to directly taking a slice out of Firefox usage – and ultimately play the long game. Google have already taken strides to target IE users with the Google frame work that plugs straight in to IE6 – directly transforming it to the Chrome engine for free. They are also working on their own operating system, which will of course be shipped with Chrome as the default browser.
So which browser to use? This guide might be best: Using Firefox? Maybe stick with it for the time being – but don’t rule out Chrome for the future. Using Internet Explorer? Switch to Chrome and don’t look back – it’s the future of web browsing. Using Safari or another browser? As with IE users – it is probably best to make the switch to Chrome
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