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Firefox Hits 80,000,000 Downloads
asa writes "It's been nine months since the release of Firefox 1.0 and with tens of millions of users we most certainly are taking back the web. Today our Firefox web browser hit the 80,000,000 downloads mark. You can see the live counter over at SpreadFirefox.com."
...how many of those downloads are unique users, vs. prior users downloading a new version?
not 80,000,000 users. I've probably downloaded the various versions of Opera at least 20 times, between new versions and new installs of Windows. The actual number of users is far lower.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
Well, we just had been notified of the 75M milestone.
Do we really need to get told about the counter constantly? It's useless anyway, as all Linux/BSD distributions use their own mirror networks.
When Firefox hits the 100m mark, it may be something half-worth of a note.
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
Almost all GNU/Linux distributions come with Firefox installed. The distribution makers only download the package once and include it in the distribution. There can be thousands of users of that package. My point is that this number is not a number that can be trusted, or am I wrong?
objorkum dot com
My weblogs show that IE is still the dominant browser, even though my two sites are primarily trafficked by those who are tech-savvy (who you think would be using a browser other than IE).
Personally, I know I've contributed to probably 50-60 of those 80m downloads, and I'm only one person. This is partly due to the assinine update mechanism. They really need a better way to deliver patches.
What is humor if not pain tempered by time?
Yes, the number of downloads from one place is a horrible metric to determine accurately how many people are using the browser. Some download it 10 times on one computer, others download it from their distro's package manager 10 times. Others copy it to a flash drive and pass it along to 10 other computers.
So before everyone tries to get a +5 insightful for pointing this out, let's just be happy that a good open source browser that does it's best to stick to standards is doing so well.
New Jersey, NJ - Alberto Chumpout, a former McDonald's employee now living in his parents' basement says he's exhausted after generating 80 million downloads.
"I'll be frank," he said, "next time I choose to artificially increase browser download ratings, I'll choose Lynx."
When asked if he had slept during this incredible marathon of downloading, Chumpout croaked "Can you help me? All I see is red foxes. My dad said I should stop using the computer. Mom didn't bother me after I disembowelled and ate dad."
Microsoft is said to be interested in hiring Chumpout for their upcoming IE7 campaign. "Download Internet Explorer 7 or Chumpout will Chump OUT On You" is said to be the slogan, winning out over "Download IE7 and win a chance to have lunch with Steve Ballmer", which insiders said was rejected because they didn't want to scare the consumer too much.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
80 million? We get it Slashdot. People are using Firefox. Stick to 0, 50, and 100 if you must.
On another point, wheres the discussion here? Are we all supposed to just pat ourselves on the back for a "job well done"? Whats the significance of this?
They all demand IE because "they support it" (i.e. they bill you a shitload to "fix" spyware, and if you use firefox AND finally get something, they won't touch it, heh, their financial loss either way, use firefox and help send their jobs to the trashcan, not india :) besides, maybe if everyone dumped microshit, we'd finally have IT jobs where we come up with NEW things instead of fixing the M$ trojan horse known as Windows).
" What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
This is partly due to the assinine update mechanism. They really need a better way to deliver patches.
If I recall correctly, they're working on a patch system that only alters the changed parts of the file (i.e. does not require full re-download and re-install). I think it's set for version 1.5 or similar.
Join the Empire! http://www.empirereborn.net/
At least 10,000 was me.
Anyway, the number of downloads is "interesting" but that's about all. What counts is how many people use Firefox as their primary browser. Still around 10%, I think. But that's not bad. I'm just afraid that IE7 may reduce some of the perceived advantages of FF such as tabbed browsing and some of the "appearance" things. Many people don't understand or care about technical issues...
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Firefox Usage is about 5% and growing.
Not much not much.
But, at a store, you do not randomly kick out 1 out of every 20 people who walk in.
5% means nothing, 1 out of 20 means much more. And growing just means it's something to pay even more attention to.
...still using straight Mozilla? Maybe I just haven't played with Firefox enough to get it set up the way I want but I find the Mozilla interface much more comfortable.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Mod me flamebait, but do you have to make a headline on the front page whenever they hit a small milestone? Perhaps only posting when they've hit things like 50,000,000, 75,000,000, 100,000,000 etc., would allow for more timely news?
We all know that the counter is steadily increasing and that the user base is growing rapidly -- but must this much news space be devoted to one subject?
Firefox reaches 82,500,000 downloads. Only another 2,500,000 to go before the big one!
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
That's almost as many downloads as Windows XP Pro!
Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
Don't get too excited! According to Broadband Reports and ComputerWorld: "The streak of Mozilla's Firefox browser gaining market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer has come to a grinding halt in July. For the first time since Firefox Version 1.0 made its debut, Internet Explorer was able to regain some lost ground. Firefox's market share shrunk to 8.07% in July from 8.71% in June, while Internet Explorer grew its share to 87.2% in July from 86.56% the previous month."
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I love firefox, but there's something negative associated with the word 'spread' that I can't quite put my finger on.
You can spread herpies, you can spread something tasty on your toast in the morning, but I'd leave "spreading" software applications to Bonzy Interactive Inc. or whatever the fuck they're called these days.
There's also another question: how many people who downloaded FireFox actually use it? I imagine that there's a considerable number of people who do get hooked, but there'll probably also be lots who don't.
I myself am an example. I've downloaded Firefox about half a dozen times in total (different versions), but even though I have it installed (mostly as a convenience for visitors who're used to it), I still use Seamonkey myself - and, for that matter, I consider Seamonkey to be superior to Firefox.
I may not be a typical example, but the raw number of downloads is not really a good metric to assess how widespread a browser is - it's a rather meaningless number, even though it makes for nice headlines of course.
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
...on "technical issues" when it only runs (natively) on Windows? "Technically" every whitebox shop out there is full-up with windows boxes that are completely hosed, despite this being the year 2005, despite all the AV and firewall products available, despite all the various patches, updates and industry recommendations to people, despite MS throwing billions at it over the years and who knows how much in terms of man years of coding effort. "Technically" just about every geek out there has to fix friends and relatives windows boxes all the time. "Technically" every iteration of windows and IE was supposed to "fix" this. And somehow automagically this new effort will be "the fix"?
Let's run that by some vegas and london oddsmakers, shall we?
You could have a new 42 inch laserplasmaquantum HDTV with surround sound but if you try to use it with two pieces of twisted coat hanger and some tinfoil for your input the total results will most likely not be "technically" all that great.
am I blind or is there no download link on spread firefox ? kinda silly aint it ?
are we supposed to know who Liz is?
I'm just not that good at paying attention to the "please don't feed the trolls" signs.
It's not about the supposed weaknesses of Firefox, it's about its strengths. 80,000,000 downloads (even if not unique) is a good sign. You point out the inherent positive of Firefox (and Opera too): it is better than IE. IE is, currently, the de facto web browser for the majority of internet users. And it also helps to propagate spyware/viruses. By making a better product, and having that product do well, benefits everyone... in theory, it even benefits users of IE. Hopefully, the popularity and features of third party browsers (such as Opera, Firefox/Mozilla, Safari, etc) will cause Microsoft to implement these features in to future versions of IE as well. I'm not just talking about things like tabed browsing (which is in pretty much every browser by default now except IE), but increased security (like not allowing applications to automatically execute after downloading [Safari under 10.4.2]).
I am a proud Firefox user. It has its faults, granted, but I use it on every OS I run (Win XP, OS X, and Linux) because it gives me the same experience cross-platform, and it very seldom ever crashes. I use a g4 optimized version of Firefox on my OS X machine, and it launches about 1 second faster than Safari, and about 2x as fast as IE for Mac (there's some bloatware for ya).
So, Troll, I have fed you. If you're going to troll, at least do it well.
Just like driving a car:
(D) to go forward
(R) to go backward
People that complain about the ads at the top of the trial versions of Opera are complete faggots. If a company wants to give you a free trial of something they are going to at least either disable something / add something annoying / or limit number of uses.
Why is it when Google used context sensitive ads in Gmail people did not complain half as much as they do about Opera's free trials. Opera is loads better / faster / more stable. Most of the Firefox "innovations" came from Opera.
People say that Opera only sucks because it costs money, how many people in the open source community / Slashdot actually paid for their version of Windows? Probably less than 4%. I bought Opera a long time ago and have stuck with it ever since. If you want Opera so bad just google for a serial.
Opera > Firefox in every way possible.
Someone should start http://www.spreadopera.com/
Opera's yearly earnings are a testament to how badass the browser is. People are willing to pay for something in that niche ( the browser market ) that they could easily get for free ( Firefox / IE ) Thats a testament to how great Opera is.
I downloaded it, installed it...didn't really care for it...uninstalled it...now am testing IE7. Jury is out.
http://chicagodave.wordpress.com
The Communist browsers have been known to block advertising, denying American companies advertising revenue, and open pages in 'tabs', freeing up computer resources and thus destroying global hardware sales. This menace must be stopped.
I hear so many talk about tabbed browsing, popup-blocking, security, etc., but to me, the best feature of Firefox are the XUL extensions.
Mozilla should really start pushing XUL as an application platform more. Also, it'd be great to see a bit more standardization in how the extensions integrate into the browser and with each other, so you don't end up permanently mangaling your browser with a bad combination of extensions.
And I doubt IE will ever have AdBlock or StumbleUpon! Great stuff!
random underscore blankspace at ya know hoo dot comedy.
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
I heard today that Ben Goodger took a dump. Later Tim Rowley scratched his nutsack. Is this /. or Sheep for Firefox group?
There are many browsers out there, unless Mozilla foundation starts paying for all this advertising, I think there should be a ban on Firefox articles.
You mean you don't know Liz? Man... you're missing out...
First posting isn't trolling. It's...first posting.
I've downloaded a single time and installed on multiple computers, some via network and others not on the network by using a "Utility" disk that I carry with me to install certain applications without having to go online unprotected when I'm cleaning up a compromised system or getting a new one ready to use. Some of the other applications on that CD are, Ad-Aware, Spybot, AVG antivirus, Zone Alarm firewall.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"because some 10 year old script kiddie was allowed to donate code to it, without some oversight committee."
Have you ever tried to get code submitted into the Mozilla CVS? Way back when I was working on it (0.8) each piece of code was reviewed by one of the main members, then super reviewed by another. "Super reviews" could not be done by any main developer, there were only a few that could do it.
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
In the past 12 months I have downloaded FireFox at least 30 times.
In addition to that, I have *updated* it (on several systems that I own (and re-install) about 10-15 times.
Perhaps I'm more active than Average Joe, but you get the picture...
Man... he reads /. and he's suggesting that he may have some kind of relationship with a woman. Isn't that an achievement in itself? Or maybe Liz is his mom.
...someone who had a big pipe wanted to advance Firefox's position and set a script to download it over and over and over?
Not to burst your bubble, but I installed it on Liz's comp 7x.
You have a strange idea of Joe Public if you think VBA is simple enough for the average user. It isn't, it's a programming language. How many ordinary people do you know who can program even simple things?
Does a Christian soccer team even need a goalkeeper?
In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and flawed car analogies.
one thing that's always bugged me is that i used the full mozilla suite prior to using firefox and briefly trying out thunderbird.
;}
firefox and thunderbird offer to import IE and/or outlook / outlook express settings & email but don't even offer the option of importing mozilla suite info.
i've since heard that you can just 'point' firefox at mozilla's settings and it will pick up the bookmarks, but how is the average user supposed realize this kind of thing?
particularly with thunderbird / mozilla - if i happened to start using the mozilla suite, and wanted to try thunderbird next, it is by no means intuitive or apparent if i can get my email from one program to another...to this day i'm still using mozilla as my mail and firefox for browsing because i don't want to risk losing my email because i decided to try pointing thunderbird at my mozilla mail and have it screw up or blow away my email...
for the opposite view, i use mozilla for my email and firefox for my browsing - but there is no way to get mozilla mail to open url links in anything but mozilla's browser... open source developer whine about microsoft not playing nice with other programs, but this is the most 'lock in' type behavior i've ever seen...
even in outlook express you can get your links opening in firefox or another browser, but mozilla suite assumes that it is the only browser in the world and doesn't even give you a chance to try and open links in other programs.
that said, i did try thunderbird for a week or so but then it crashed and blew away my email inbox (with all of the emails in it) and i haven't gone back...i don't need my business emails being blown away randomly
Gekido's Lair
Seamonkey (the Mozilla Suite), however useful, isn't exactly "well designed" in that it's too monolithical. If you want the web browser, you get the e-mail client, calendar, Usenet client and fries on the side with it, whether you want to or not. For those of us using other programs for mailing/Usenet posting/calendaring/whatever-else, that's just a waste of resources.
The same thing goes for the plug-in architecture of Firefox. Those who don't want/need mouse gestures don't have to waste resources on them, for example. The plug-ins also allow for a more distributed development model, since people can contribute Firefox functionality as a plug-in, without having to contribute the code to the Mozilla Foundation.
As for Firefox going submarine, that's not going to happen. The Firefox/Thunderbird/Sunbird suite is the official replacement of Seamonkey, which will stop being developed after a certain point (I don't remember when, however). And then there's the issue if why they'd actaully want to do that...
Just a quick rebuttal. The plain fact is that IE intrinsically is, and always will be more of a security problem than Firefox. As you might know, IE is part of the operating system, and can therefore cause greater damage than a stand-alone application. Yes, they put out patches all the time (like last week, they put out a patch for several critical IE exploits), but the exploits keep coming. So IE is still a security risk, and it will likely stay that way for a long time. Judging IE7 is hard, but from MS' track record concerning security, I see no reason why it should be much better. Especially if they keep it integrated with the system, they are already far behind. But I do agree with you that if you protect yourself enough (firewall, patches, antispyware and antivirus), you can probably get by using IE.
The speed issue I find a little puzzling. IE is quicker to start up, because it is preloaded on windows, but all tests I have seen show that FF is quicker at rendering pages than IE, and that Opera is quicker than FF.
Personally I use FF all the time, and are really happy with it. Most (~80%) of the people I show it to also stick with it. It does have some problems (memory leak, crashes), but I find it way better than IE. Hopefully the first point release after the big 1.0 will iron out most problems.
-TN