Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Only 25% of Firefox Downloaders Are 'Active Users'

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-account-for-ten-percent-of-that dept.

bheer writes "The Guardian points out a page on the Mozilla wiki noting that 'only 50% of the people downloading Firefox actually try it out, and only a further half of those continue to use it actively.' ZDNet has some commentary on the browser's retention rate. While a 25% retention rate isn't necessarily bad, Mozilla is trying to improve these figures with a 12 point plan that includes more TV and media advertising, a better start page and several installation tweaks."

8 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. My numbers are a bit different. by Jack9 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I see about 80% retention in the past. Granted I'm in tech, so you might think that geeks usually go for the most reliable technology that offers the best tools and such, but I dont introduce FF to techs...they are already using it. I see about 80% retention from non-techs that I introduced it to. Now that tabbing is a feature of both browsers, 25% still seems very low.

    --

    Often wrong but never in doubt.
    I am Jack9.
    Everyone knows me.
  2. Re:That's still a lot by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Could be, they're using FF masquaraded as IE to use IE-only sites.

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  3. Alright! by iknownuttin · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Ok. I have Firefox 2.0.0.4. When I first downloaded it, all of a sudden I started getting these "update errors".

    Now, being a good F/OSS geek, I went up online to find out WTF the problem was. Well, there was this series of directions to follow. I followed them to the tee. Still nothing. Then I saw a post about my "Firewall" being the problem. Well, I turned it off - no change. BUT, when I was logged in as an Admin, no problem. Interesting. The Firefox folks were insistent that it's my firewall.

    So, I went in and gave the Mozilla directory full access rights (this is in Windows XP) and everything is working now.

    So, is Firefox on my machine secure?
    Would the typical user have to deal with this security problem with IE - (NO)?
    How many of you are going to call me or imply that I'm an idiot for not being able to use Firefox correctly?

    Users want to know.

    --
    I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
  4. Not unusual by MobyDisk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I work for a company that offers a downloadable product with a monthly subscription. We find that people actually login, enter their credit card number, download the software, and never run it. There's another group who never click the download button. It's really quite amazing. We've worked hard to make it as easy as possible - make sure the download link is visible on all screen resolutions, browsers, not require scripting or the latest softare, etc.

  5. Mom, Pop and Girlfriend Effect by Steauengeglase · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I can't help but wonder if this comes from the proverbial, "Jimmy" downloading it on his Mom and Dad's computer because they keep complaining about "The Blue E" getting hijacked. Jimmy tells them to, "Click on the Fox", but they keep clicking on "The Blue E" because to them it is, "Getting on the internet." Similar events happen with Jimmy's girlfriend and Boss.

    The only other scenario I can think of is that there are a lot of web developers out there who are still trying to get it to work in IE.

  6. Bundle by sufijazz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Users are inherently lazy. If you ask them to download a software product and learn to use it, you have already lost a bulk of the potential market share.

    The key is to bundle it together. Have Firefox pre-installed on computers. Make is hassle-free for the user. Make it a no-brainer. Dell installing GooglePack (which includes Firefox) on every PC they ship - that's a start. Yahoo messenger downloads should bundle Firefox (side note - this can be installed as an opt-in or opt-out component. While opt-in i.e. checkbox unchecked by default is a more "considerate" option, opt-out is better if you want to increase downloads) In any case, hyperlinks from Yahoo messenger chat windows should open in Firefox windows if FF is installed. Ditto with Trillian.

    Yes, this is a sort of militant technique (the same technique that MS used to make IE a monopoly). But let's face it - it's not the geeks but the users who don't know about FF that need FF most because they are most vulnerable to the security cracks in IE.

    Some other things they can do: bundle the most useful extensions with the product (Map This, AdBlock, Fetch text URL, DictionarySearch, BugMeNot, SearchPluginHacks), reduce the memory it hogs, interactive tutorial. They need to get out of the "of the geeks, by the geeks, for the geeks" mentality.

    --
    2+2=5 for very large values of 2.
  7. Re:That's still a lot by Eddi3 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With a simple Google Search:

    http://www.openaddict.com/ie_reject.html
    http://www.devin.com/ie_reject.shtml
    http://www.findsimon.com/ie_reject.html
    http://www.trojanpony.co.uk/ie_reject.html
    http://doli.ic.cz/ie_reject.php

    Just to name a few.

    Eddie

  8. Re:That's still a lot by Curtman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    FF on XP does a pretty good job of integrating into the OS

    When you click a link in an MSN conversation, it opens in IE regardless of what your preferred browser setting is. Most people that I know begin their web browsing by clicking on the MSN link to open Hotmail, and they get IE. When that changes those numbers will look better. I'm afraid it will take a court ruling to change that though.