We Need Chrome No More
Within two years, Chrome accounted for 15% of all Web traffic on desktop—for comparison, it took Firefox 6 years to get there. Google managed to deliver a fast, thoughtfully designed browser that was an instant hit among users and Web developers alike. Their product innovation and engineering prowess was a breath of fresh air, and their commitment to open-source was the cherry on top. Over the years, Google‘s adoption of Web standards continued to set the example.
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The dominance of Chrome has a major detrimental effect on the Web as an open platform: developers are increasingly shunning other browsers in their testing and bug-fixing routines. If it works as intended on Chrome, it’s ready to ship. This in turn results in more users flocking to the browser as their favorite Web sites and apps no longer work elsewhere, making developers less likely to spend time testing on other browsers. A vicious cycle that, if not broken, will result in most other browsers disappearing in the oblivion of irrelevance. And that’s exactly how you suffocate the open Web.
Previously: Microsoft EdgeHTML Replaced by Chromium.
6 Comments RSS · Twitter
What's never mentioned whenever Chrome is discussed is how it's de facto for work computers. I use several SaS sites at work and they don't work in Safari. Hands down incompatible. One claims to work in Firefox but since Mozilla switched to Quantum the cards have been thrown up in the air and the site has become buggy.
I know people really love Safari, and I use it at home, but it's a pile of mouldy cheese if you do anything but light browsing.
I hate Chrome because it looks ugly, has a wild-west approach when it comes to extensions, and chews up battery life like nothing else (I wish wish wish they'd work on that). But I've no choice.
When everyone and their cousin was jumping on the Apple backed, Webkit bandwagon, was the teeth gnashing as intense? I remember some complaints but not necessarily from the same people.
I don't use Chrome much at all, even on Android, but I certainly use browsers based on Chromium. My preference is still Firefox on the desktop, but my mobile browsing is a mix of Firefox and Brave. Works great for me.
PS I miss when developers made their own engines, iCab was a lot of fun as an example. These days, it's simply easier to jump in with a Webkit or Blink based browser.
@Keir
I miss some things about the Apple platform, but boy howdy, I do not miss Safari. Every new OS release, I'd give Safari a shot as primary browser and every time I would end up migrating back to something else.
