this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2023
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Crazy how Chrome took off so much over default browsers like Safari and Edge. Is it because it is also taking into account Chrome on Android and Chromebooks that come as default? Or are that many normal people going out of their way to install chrome.
Well it used to be good, even non techy users knew that IE sucked and when their "computer-whizkid" nephew recommended Chrome it was genuinely faster and leaner than competition. And I've almost forgot the fact that they've advertised chrome (maybe they still do) on the main Google page that gets like billions of pageviews.
Because about 10 years ago, those Safari/IE weren't 1. as smooth/simple as Chrome and 2. everyone on the internet bar the tech nerds were pushing for Chrome. Firefox was viewed in the same light as Linux in my circles.
It was a meme that the only use IE had was to download Chrome. It's not that crazy when you realise the power of word-of-mouth and the meeting the general population's needs for simplicity and google-search integration/features
Even the tech nerds were pushing for Chrome. IE was the monolithic shitstain that cursed web developers with its anti-competitive behavior (see Netscape vs. Microsoft, for example). Firefox, for as awesome as it was to have an major open-source browser on the landscape, was a slow and bloated beast 15-20 years ago.
And then Chrome came along and touted their multi-threaded, isolated memory model. Some of us were angry that another OSS fork was fracturing development with Firefox, but Chrome was just the better option at the time.
Now? IE is dead and buried, replaced with a rarely used Edge. Chrome is now the slow-moving bloatware. And Firefox is the better, more optimized browser.
It's funny what happens in 20 years.
And the idea that one tab could crash but the rest of your browser still functioned was pretty revolutionary. I remember being impressed at the idea and using chrome for that alone. All it took was one page with misbehaving JavaScript to cripple your entire web browser back then until the browser offered you to stop the offending script.