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Firefox Appears Ready to Crack 20% Share Next Month
CWmike writes "Mozilla's Firefox browser is on pace to hit the 20% market-share mark next month. Net Applications marketing VP Vince Vizzaccaro didn't pin all of Firefox's increase on a change last month to its update dialog; he did note the new approach. 'Mozilla has implemented a change in Firefox 3.0 [Release Candidate 1] where the installation now has a checkbox that defaults to making Firefox your default browser,' he explained. He refused to ding Mozilla for the practice. 'The option is clearly displayed and labeled, unlike Safari, which misleadingly labeled the Safari install as an "update" [but has] since correctly changed to an 'install.' However, this practice is a break from the traditional practice browsers employed of defaulting this option to off.'"
What does the "default browser" setting actually do? I always run the browser by clicking the "firefox" icon (or "internet explorer," if necessary). So I don't see when the "default browser" is invoked.
Firefox @ 16%
Firefox @ 18%
Firefox @ 40%
So which one is right?
However, this practice is a break from the traditional practice browsers employed of defaulting this option to off.
Odd. Nearly every browser I've used warns me that it's not the default if I've set something else to be the default. I don't recall going into every single one of those and turning the "check if this browser is the default" option on.
I love it! Firefox is my world as proven that I actually own a Firefox Messenger bag (happens to be one of the few bags I could find that actually fit my laptop). I have been running Firefox 3.0 since the Gan Paradiso days and it has been solid as a rock, unlike some other browsers that liked to detonate every couple of minutes. I still am waiting for a fix on the memory leaks, but I can deal with just restarting my browser every time I see it is using three or four hundred meg of memory for now.
Like arts? Like cheesy little Indie mags? Check out www.artwerkmag.com, and don't laugh at the bad coding please.
I've seen specific cases where, unfortunately, a programming team ignored the firefox angle when testing their code, and wrote in .NET specific goodies that only worked in IE.
Sure enough, sales dipped almost 20% for a week. We ran the reports, and Firefox was accounting for 21% of site traffic (until that week, where it dropped off to almost nil). We quickly fixed the code, and firefox shot right back up to 21-22%.
The demographics for this website are a little bit younger than the general population, so it made sense that we had already broken through 20%
davejenkins.com |
"the installation now has a checkbox that defaults to making Firefox your default browser"
It's an installation of a browser. Why would you -not-
1. Offer the option to make it the default browser
and
2. Have that option pre-selected.
I would expect a browser to do this. I would expect an image viewer to present me with the option to change image file associations and have those checked by default, a music player to associate MP3s, etc. -On installation-.
I don't want this happening when you simply start the application (I'm looking at you, Outlook).
"unlike Safari, which misleadingly labeled the Safari install as an "update"(1) [but has] since correctly changed to an 'install.'".
Great, so the Apple update checking thingy now has two sections(2). One for actual updates, and one below that for -completely unrelated applications- to be peddled onto your machine. Still selected by default.
No longer labeling it as an 'update' is a good step, but it's not the major gripe with this practice in the first place.
1) http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee248/msanto/One-Offs%202008/AppleUpdateSafari.jpg
2) http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee248/msanto/One-Offs%202008/AppleUpdateSafari2.jpg
Please, please, please Mozilla... don't start peddling Thunderbird to Firefox users in the update checks; or if you do, make sure it's -not selected- by default.
I mean, most people that go out of their way to download a browser installer probably intend to use that browser as their default, whether it's Safari, Opera or Firefox.
Picture this: Joe User downloads and installs Firefox, clicks right through the installer without reading and then starts clicking the little Firefox icon when he wants to surf the net. However, since the 'default' checkbox was blank by default, whenever his friend on MSN sends him a link, he clicks it and it opens in Internet Explorer. In my experience, a very large number of users will not notice that they're not in their usual browser for quite a while. They may navigate away from the linked site and do banking or other security sensitive stuff, but now they're in a browser that hasn't necessarily been keeping up with patches because it's rarely being run.
I don't know, but it seems to be that it's safer to default that box to be checked. Users that keep multiple browsers for testing purposes already know to look for it, will remember to uncheck it, and are in the minority anyway.
Give me example of a browser which does not do that during the install process?
Why is it that web designers and developers - and I'm guilty of this too - almost always knowingly use a browser that most of their users won't? I guess it's not so much of a problem anymore, but back in the day developing in Firefox, Opera, or any browser that wasn't IE was a sure way to run into interesting and convoluted issues when your users views your page in IE and it renders all differently.
What's wrong with having default as enabled? All applications around the world does it and even hides it in advanced install settings. Firefox doing it openly is just OK. Not good, not bad, but just OK.
Stop being so nitpicking. I am no total Firefox fan (have lot of issues in Ubuntu), but this is not a case to bash them.
user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
Be sure to pick up something from the Mozilla Store!
http://store.mozilla.org/
I got me one of these: http://store.mozilla.org/product.php?code=MZ34014&catid=10
Wish I got paid for product placement in my comments...
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
except that if it bothers enough people, it can be changed. for example, if Debian found this unacceptable, they could make a few code changes for their version of Iceweasel, same with anyone else.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
To be fair, most people installing it will want it as default. And besides, if they don't, the next time they open IE or whichever other browser they use, it will throw a hissy-fit about not being the default and show some obnoxious message complaining about this and suggesting they correct their error.
I installed the RC1 and the check box is rather obvious. Not to mention IE will throw a fit if its not the default browser next time its opened. As for immoral Nah. Bad practice maybe, but presumably if you are downloading the browser then you are doing so with the intention of making it your default browser, seeing as I don't download random browsers just for the hell of it. kjb
I don't really see the big deal. Most programs make themselves the "handler" for whatever file type they support by default upon install. Quicktime, MS Media Player, and Real all do this with media files. Every photo viewer I've ever installed does this with image files.
It's especially innocuous here, because if you accidentally make Firefox your default, IE will simply ask you if you would like to make IT the default browser upon the next run (with the default again checked "yes").
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
The difference between this and what Apple did is Apple made it look like it was a required security update and then installed an unwanted piece of software. This however is just a setting change that can be easily reverted. I certainly don't find it a problem when IE makes itself default because I press the wrong button by mistake.
Why is this any worse than Firefox pestering you to become the default browser? The users who are going to miss that check box also don't know what to do when Firefox pesters to become default. I think neither is a moral tactic. But, IE does this also (I'm not sure about Safari). If there's a huge community outrage, maybe there will be a bugzilla report and they'll fix it in 6-8 years.
Not neccesarily. Maybe they want to check out FF, but they're not ready to make it the default until they've used it enough to be sure it doesn't suck.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Mozilla Firefox already has much bigger market share on many countries. Ex. on Finland is over 40% and most ITC sites report Mozilla is over 50% market share owning browser. Many other EU country has over 30-40% market share and looks like only few big country has lower than those and where IE still dominates.
Oh wait... It's that thing I use to browse webpages. Never mind.
Some people just 'go on the internet' without knowing what they're using.
I am not really here right now.
Am I the only desktop admin who has, in the recent past, seen the default browser switch back to IE after and update from Microsoft?
I think it's been a while because I control when updates are applied and I don't remember a recent situation when that occurred.
I have a feeling there may be another update coming to "fix" the default browser. More likely in a new and improved convoluted way involving a dialog box, but still....
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
Immoral? What about tricking people into using a particular webbrowser by including it with your operating system?
I am not really here right now.
Then they just need to uncheck the box and make a conscious decision not to install the browswer as the default. Seems like this argument is 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other.
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Not on my web server it's not! And I even get a ton of foreign and 21 year old and under traffic, which is the likely Firefox user and I'm at like 12% Firefox. The rest of my stats are perfectly in line with average for OS and stuff so I know it's a good sampling. If they're calculating this using some really dumb method like downloads of the Firefox installer then obviously their logic is flawed.
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
I happen to live in a country where Firefox usage broke 45% months ago and is the most popular browser, overtaking IE by 5-6%.
I honestly don't care about marketshare after the point of no return has passed where web developers are forced to use the standard in order to make it work on multiple browsers.
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
I ask this as a partisan of the seamonkey camp.
Here's our new chant: Respect user choice
Remove useless bloat
FF and IE
Both get my goat!
I'm really getting tired of firefox crapping out on me (usually because of flash it has to be said) and because its running one big multi threaded app no matter how many windows you open or seperate instances you attempt to start, the whole lot disappear taking all my sessions with them. The current multi process option doesn't work. Have they added one yet that does because it really needs it if they can't sort out the reliability?
Presumably they make it multi threaded so it fits into Windows limited process model but surely a multi process version can't be hard to achieve!
During the *update* process, I can't think of any other browser that does this.
That comment isn't informative, its inquisitive, which should be a mod option.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
What's wrong with NOT having it enabled by default?
If you want to set Firefox as your default browser after installing it, feel free to check the box. If unchecking a box if you do NOT want this to happen is no big deal, why is having to check it if you WANT it a big deal?
It really cuts both ways, so you can't use this to argue for or against this. Therefore, the default applies: settings etc. shouldn't be changed unless the user explicitely requests it.
Oh, my. The default browser check box is checked by default!
This is so not meaningful or interesting. What could possibly be less significant?
It doesn't sound like you have used IE7 enough to have an opinion.
I use firefox and all, but why spout off?
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
I recently went through the IE 6->7 upgrade (in a virtual machine). IE does it.
The state you are in while your HEAD is detached... - wait, what?
Seems to me that all they are doing is evening the playing field.
Odd that when I installed RC1, and ran it for the first time, all it did was ask if I wanted it to be the default, with the check box filled.... Uncheck it, and done.
This is what IE does every time you start it, until you go in and tell it not to check to see if it's the default.
At least Firefox only asks once.
Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
Maybe with 20% market share I will start meeting web site designers who know that Microsoft is not "the internet", that there are other browsers and that the W3 sets the standards.
Would having 20% of the share of the browser market make Firefox the most successful *end user* FOSS?
If so, I think it provides a loud message to old school free(dom) software developers who see crappy interfaces as only a small inconvenience that users SHOULD suck up and stop "whining" about.
IMHO one of the reasons for the success of Firefox among Jane User is the easy of use and simple interface.
public static function firefoxSux():boolean
{
return false;
}
America, Home of the Brave.
I have long distrusted these shady stats companies that provide these figures with absolutely no way to check their validity. I poked around a bit on netapplications.com, and although they don't actually tell you outright, I gather that their Firefox statistics come from corporate websites that they host(?). Needless to say, there might be a huge bias here (e.g. the types of companies in bed with NetApplications might be biased towards having a large influx of corporate users on IE, or something like that).
So what to do about this lack of statistics? A couple months ago I wrote a bot that crawled webalizer statistics pages, harvested the results, loaded them into MySQL, and produced aggregate browser statistics by month. To make a long story short, I had difficulty getting enough Webalizer pages to make for a really good study (my bot was just scraping Google), but I showed around ~20% Firefox usage. Results here. If there's interest in this project, it could easily be revived.
http://cltracker.net -- powerful craigslist multi-city search
So it'll be 20% - 1? I can already hear the desperate cries from the developers!
If you're switching away from IE, you might as well switch away from its annoying pet chihuahua WL Messenger. There are SO many alternatives out there...GAIM, Miranda, Pidgin, and Trillian (free edition) come to mind...
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I think part of the reason is that MS seem to have given up their fight, a little, to become the browser of choice. They seem to be spending less time trying to create their own DOM structures etc.
They are probably concentrating on developing new products and getting Windows V#@$a working rather than spending lots of developers time getting the minutiae of browser compliance working.
America, Home of the Brave.
Where, and when are we getting to see the browser usage distribution of Slashdot?
I bet you could have one of those stories with more than 1000 posts by publishing it in the "Taco Blog", and linking to it.
It would probably be very interesting to see how (if?) the distribution varies depending on section (games, linux, mac etc).
Firefox checks to see if it's the default on every startup as well, unless you specifically uncheck the box and tell it not to.
This behavior's pretty much expected of browsers at this point
I run a fairly busy site that has the following stats:
1. Internet Explorer 97,589 75.07%
2. Firefox 26,383 20.30%
3. Safari 4,844 3.73%
4. Opera 500 0.38%
5. Netscape 329 0.25%
6. Mozilla 270 0.21%
7. Konqueror 37 0.03%
8. Camino 21 0.02%
9. Mozilla Compatible Agent 6 > 0.00%
10.
Playstation 3 5 > 0.00%
What is interesting to note is that this site is for stock investors so think middle aged, none-technical crowd.
(Com-on Konqueror!)
As to "One would think that WL Messenger, being written by Microsoft, would be more aware of system settings and their intended effects.." . . . what makes you think that WL Messenger DOESN'T apply this particular system setting *as intended*?
presumably if you are downloading the browser then you are doing so with the intention of making it your default browser
Or maybe you want to, you know, try it?
sic transit gloria mundi
public static function ieSucks() {
$browser = get_browser();
$name = $browser['browser'];
$version = $browser['version'];
if ($name == "MSIE") {
switch ($version) {
default:
$stillsucks = true;
break;
}
return $stillsucks;
}
while (ieSucks()) {
switchTo('Firefox');
}
I hate IE as much as anyone else, but would it be feasible to do otherwise? The alternatives I see are:
Again, I'd be happy if nobody was using IE, but it does make sense that Windows needs to make it easy for users to start accessing the internet, and including a browser seems like a reasonable choice - as long as you're not locked in.
I totally agree
Internet Explorer is simply the best tool ever (for downloading Firefox) i wouldn't even think of using anything else
Wait... what was the question?
I know in its original form it's been mostly discredited, but I'm wondering if something like the "hundredth monkey effect" is going to take hold with Firefox in the near future. Will there be an inflection point in its usage share?
Well, as noted in the summary, Safari did it during the iTunes update process. Does that count?
Updating Firefox is (or at least used to be) equivalent to downloading the new version and installing over it. Since it would take extra code to check if Firefox is already installed, it seems more forgivable to fail to do that (and thus uncheck the "default" checkbox) than to intentionally try to trick the person.
I also recall a few Internet Explorer updates which set IE as the default browser without even asking. IE 7 may not do this--I don't know.
Anyone who regularly updates firefox will probably have FF as there default anyway.
America, Home of the Brave.
My point is not that what Firefox did was wrong, but that the logic you used to come to that conclusion was faulty.
It's not hard to change it back. Just run the browser of choice and it will now show a message saying it's not the default then click OK, make it the default.
America, Home of the Brave.
I downloaded Safari for the hell of it, once it came out for Windows. I was curious to know how well it worked in the new environment, as well as whether it would work emulated through Wine. I had no intention of using it as my primary browser.
Web developers, if they're good, will test on several browsers beyond their default. These are people who download and install alternate browsers as part of their job.
Yeah Ubuntu, how dare you trick me into using Firefox??!!!111!!!eleventy
Seriously though, every OS is going to come with some web browser or another as the default - Windows use IE, Macs use Safari and [at least the mainstream] Linux distros use FF - you can hardly describe it as immoral.
Yeah, no kidding. It pissed me off to no end when Iceweasel was included with Debian.
In all seriousness, the problem was never that Microsoft included a web browser by default. The problem was that they "negotiated" with OEMs (by abusing their monopoly) to keep alternate browsers (Netscape specifically) off of the desktop, or in extreme cases, off of the computers entirely. OEMs didn't dare refuse because if their cost per unit of Windows went up significantly, they'd be unable to compete.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
My company's site, a small biotech, is consistently around 30% according to Google Analytics
I use primarily Firefox during web development, because it seems more efficient and sensible to target a reasonably compliant browser first, and then adjust to IE afterward. I use Firefox mostly because having Firebug available is so useful during development and debugging.
Ah, my options were still set to "code". Stupid option anyway, if I want code included, it's in *addition* to normal text. I've not seen a single comment entirely consisting of code. See experts exchange for a better idea.
Personally I prefer using command line FTP to download Firefox on windows machines. That way I never have to use Internet Explorer. On Linux I just urpmi (or whatever your distro uses) to get firefox.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I primarily use Macs, and slightly prefer the Mac way - though I'll be damned if I can tell you how it works or why I prefer it
Anyway, about 10-15 years ago I got used to un-checking a bunch of boxes in installers...
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
While not a large site by any means (close to 10,000 unique visitors per month) I've been pleased to see a 40-45% share for Firefox in the past six months (up from about 25-30% a year ago).
It is a non-profit group that I run dedicated to the elimination of Teen Dating Violence ( http://www.jenniferann.org/ ) so there's no technology bias that I'm aware of. For the interested few (likely smaller than that!) here are the stats for May 2008 with 107,004 visits:
FF 45.8%
IE 42.5
Safari 4.4
Opera 2.6
Mozilla(?), Netscape, Camino, K-Meleon, Phoenix and Unknown round out the remainder.
I'm glad to see FF continue to grow - about two years ago I was consulting for a top bank and they refused to QA their customer-facing portal for credit cards with FF. When I did some ad-hoc UI testing the site was filled with errors for FF users - some of these errors were significant and were/are, as I pointed out to them, potential compliance issues.
You can lead a bank to water...
Drew Crecente
Director, Jennifer Ann's Group
http://jenniferann.org/
JAGga.me ----> Producing video games addressing emotional health and wellness issues affecting teens.
I really hate it when I download a viewer or player and it will default to all file formats, unless it is easy to disable that functionality *and* it is easy to reverse the operation. This allows me to test-drive different players. If this kind of functionality is not included, it won't take the first hurdle and I will tell everyone *not* to use it.
:).
Most people that download firefox will probably want it as their default browser, it is only a single checkbox and easy to reverse. So firefox takes the hurdle with ease.
Slightly OT: The most obnoxious thing I've seen with default browsers is Microsoft/others *knowingly* using the default browser while a site is only created with IE in mind. This is very dirty warfare. Fortunately, they seem to have refrained from using this tactic lately (IE 7 would probably crash on a IE 6 only site anyway
It may seem like cheating to set up the install such that you have to click a box to have it not be the default. But they're only responding to the anti-competitive approach of Microsoft which sets up IE as the default before you even get the computer out of the box.
Odd - I don't recall changing any other settings.... Who knows, maybe I did....
Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
But software is installed by the super-user, who shouldn't be involved in regular users' personal preferences.
http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/bstats/latest.html http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp Has FireFox at 29.3% and 39.1%
Wine-Reviews Windows Applications and Games on Linux and Mac
Two questions for you:
1> What software to you use to play multimedia files and
2> Did it offer to make itself the default?
VLC does, and that's what I use.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
here is what i would like to see firefox do:
if (defaultBrowser lte IE6) {
defaultBrowser=firefox
}
no questions asked.
Vince Vizzaccaro is not a Mozilla VP. He seems to work for Net Applications.
I totally agree
Internet Explorer is simply the best tool ever (for downloading Firefox) i wouldn't even think of using anything else
except maybe an older version of firefox.... which makes IE pointless.........I just started using Firefox instead of IE and really like it. Particularly the Find feature. However it is much slower than IE. I hope version 3 speeds it up.
Actually IMHO I think Firefox is a MUCH better tool for downloading Firefox than IE. Then once Firefox is done installing I just switch over to...Firefox.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
In Europe it's been way over 20% in a long time... duh
Linux "fails" to take to the Desktop because it fails to be Windows. It fails to be Windows because it is not -- it's Unix. And that means it has a completely different underlying philosophy of how things should be done that goes back over 30 years.
Linux fails because it's not anywhere approaching "easy to use" as a desktop. I find it much easier to install Pidgin (formerly GAim) on Windows and Mac compared to Linux. And MacOS is Unix. I've never owned a Mac...and my livelihood consists entirely of developing software exclusively for Linux. And GAim was developed as a Linux application.
I'm not trying to bash Linux, but really, the first step in getting better is admitting you have a problem;)
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
ought to be browser enough for anyone.
:-D
I should note that, no matter what, I have never used Internet Explorer for anything but testing on the job. 5 years ago I took some heat for it too. I was scolded at a couple of different jobs as a result of not using IE as my primary browser. I can assure everyone that I did not comply and I could care less what happened with any of them now... one company was dissolved after I'd left
We didn't give in and Firefox has helped us win.
Fresh horses and more whiskey for my men.
But how do you download the portable version without using a browser?
I guess you could just keep it on a thumb drive...
By having both OO.o and Firefox on a stick I can show customers without installing anything to their computers how nice the free tools are and if they like them(which they usually do) I can whip out my "handy dandy freebie cd" and install OO.o,Inkscape,Gimp,etc while I use Firefox on my flash to grab the latest Firefox. I have found my "all the basics" pack is the most popular-OO.o,Firefox or Seamonkey with Adblock and Noscript(depending on whether they still download mail or not),Gimp and Klite codec pack. I have found this setup gives my customers a good 85-90% of what they need for everything they want their PC to do. I can't wait until both Firefox and OO.o hit V.3.0 as I've found the new layout to both(as well as better memory management) are really nice and will make a welcome addition to my "Handy dandy freebie cd". But that is my 02c,YMMV
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
USB sticks sure beat rewriting tool CDs every time one updates! :)
;)
:)
I have a 4GB Kingston stick with all the sorts of things you have on it in addition to other stuff and lots of freeware portable apps including clamav which has come in very very handy; plus another 4GB with portable Bart PE loaded with antimalware kit on the first partition, and Ubuntu on a second partition; and a bunch of other ones including a 128MB with DSL that I carry everywhere.
Once the 16GB sticks come down in price a little more I'll build one with several bootable images on it.
Sweet kit, fits in the wallet. I love those things. Not too many years ago being able to put that kind of software power on a set of CDs was sweet kit...
Haven't had a single one break yet, either; a couple of them have been thru the laundry. The 128MB DSL stick case is actually slightly melted, as I left it on a dashboard of a car one 100F day. It still works...
Cheers,
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
My web domain.
... on my ubuntu box. It crashes about 20 times a day specially when watching flash content
I just want to know why anyone, anywhere still uses IE6.
Looking over some stats for a medium traffic site with an older demographic, we have something like 62% IE, 25% FF.
However, of the Firefox 25%, 21 are either running the newest 2.xx version or version 3. For IE, on the other hand, 24 out of the 62% are running IE6 (!)
I certainly wouldn't choose IE7 over Firefox (or Safari, or Konqueror...), but at least it's usable. IE6, on the other hand needs to just disappear off the face of the earth.
Is there some reason why these people aren't upgrading?
While for the most part I agree, and I have taken to carrying a 40Gb ultra mini drive that has all the latest and greatest as well as all my software tools(AV,rootkit revealer,spybot,etc) I have found my "handy dandy" cds are a nice way I can add value to my customers while exposing them to free and open source software. I have all the software divided into categories such as virus and spyware removal,Internet,graphics and photo editing,office,etc along with a text file to go along with each piece of software describing what it is/does. This way not only do they have more software to try than they could afford to pay me to install,but they can easily share with their friends/family. And I have found more and more customers coming to me in part because "you're the guy that makes those cool handy dandy cds" which they got from a friend/family member who recommended me. Who says you can't make money from free software? ;-) But that is my 02c,YMMV
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Who the fuck launches a browser because it's the default browser ?
What's the ratio of explicit brower icon/menu launch vs. web link launch ? It must be one of the highest on the market compared to other applications. As much as it doesn't make sense to "open adobe acrobat then open the file open dialog to open a pdf file" or "open OOO/MSWord then open the file open dialog to open a doc file" (most people will just click directly on the document's icon), it seems to me most web browsers, like mail clients are launched explicitly by...launching them.
The metaphor is just different: in case of a doc or pdf or mp3 file, you generally already "got" the file. The entry point for a web page is in most cases a link on...another web page. Hence you've already got to be in the browser to pass through that entry point.
You'll object that people now use offline RSS readers to browse headlines, and that will use the default browser setting to launch the default browser. That's true, but people who install offline readers are more educated and more likely to use firefox. They also must be a minority compared to online RSS readers.
1: There is no right number.
Funny! And your method would have to be part of a singleton class too! :-)
America, Home of the Brave.
That's the thing, though - that's starting the app for the first time. I consider that part of installation - it's where you ask the user the basic necessities on preferences.
But that's the first time / part of installation. Not the 2nd time you run it, not the 3rd time, not every. single. time. after that.
If you want to change the preference later - yay, use the preferences menus available to you.
Personally I'm all for the SysAdmin, under direction of some higher-up, making FF the default (or not, again, it's an option during installation) whether it asks during the factual binaries installation procedure or as part of the installation finish-up on first run, rather than asking 'the user'... lest a SysAdmin ends up with half a dozen different browsers to support; surely a no-no in the 'corporations' you speak of.
If a user changes it later, they can have a talk with the SysAdmin.
hope ff can get 30% of the market, IE sucks