Chrome 47 Released (blogspot.ca)

LichtSpektren writes: Google Chrome version 47 is now available for download. This release features 41 security fixes, very tiny UI changes (except for the built-in PDF viewer, which was redone entirely), and the removal of the desktop notification center. The iOS version has added new keyboard shortcuts and support for 3D touch.

Comments

Another reason for Mozilla to shit their pants.

[Anonymous Coward]

This new version of Chrome should be yet another reason for Mozilla to collectively shit its pants in fear.

Chrome consistently gets better with each release. So even if there isn't a new release of Firefox, Firefox has still gotten relatively worse compared to Chrome just by the fact that Firefox hasn't improved. It surely doesn't help that each release of Firefox has typically been seen as worse than the one before it, causing more problems and inconvenience for its ever-dwindling user base.

Just look at the recent browser usage stats. Firefox is only around 7% to 8% of the browser market now, across desktop and mobile platforms, and all versions. The desktop version of Chrome 46 alone has about 3.5 times the number of users than Firefox has. Chrome for Android has roughly 2.5 times as many users as all versions. Even Opera Mini almost has more users than Firefox has in total!

There should be nothing but panic at Mozilla right now when looking at those numbers. Then there should be even more panic when they realize that Firefox is the only product of theirs that sees much use. They're apparently looking to kill of Thunderbird, based on another recent Slashdot submission. Then their other projects, like Persona, Rust, Firefox OS, Servo, and Bugzilla don't have many users.

In my opinion, Mozilla's influence is dwindling as more and more users leave Firefox for greener pastures. At some point Mozilla will become completely irrelevant. None of the other browser vendors will give a damn what they think or want when they've only got 1% or maybe 2% of the market. When we see how quickly Firefox's share of the market has been dropping lately, the 2% mark will likely be hit sooner than a lot of people expected.

I think that Mozilla is reaching a fork in the road. One path leads directly to irrelevance. The other path leads to glory, but it involves going in a very different direction. This means the end to Firefox OS, Rust, Servo, and other failed projects. This means restoring Firefox's UI to what it once was. This means removing Pocket, Hello, and the ads from Firefox. This means listening to Firefox's users, rather than ignoring them, or worse, doing exactly what the users said they don't want to happen. I, for one, sure hope that Mozilla does not choose the current path that leads straight to irrelevance!

Re:Another reason for Mozilla to shit their pants.

[LichtSpektren]

It's also because there are a lot of idiots who are championing a browser by a fucking ad broker which sells your privacy.

Chrome: has telemetry on, Do-Not-Track off, etc. by default.
Firefox: has telemetry on, Do-Not-Track off, etc. by default. Also has built-in ads that read your browsing history.

Both are pretty bad here, but ironically, it's the "not-for-profit" browser that's more invasive of your privacy than the ad broker's browser.

Not interested. Bailed on chrome years ago.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

Thanks. I suspect some Chrome users will be interested, so this is News for Nerds and Stuff that Matters.

But I bailed on Chrome a couple years ago - installing and switching to Firefox on my account/machine at the consulting customer that used Chrome for their standard browser.

The precipitating incident: A typo had brought up a NSFW page, URL autocompletion kept suggesting it whenever its (common) first letter was typed, and both the documented and undocumented methods for removing such "helpful hints" weren't working in that version of Chrome.

But even before that they had broken several things I used in a "we know what you need better than you" interface change that couldn't be configured-away.

I'll stick to open stuff, even if it means I don't get the proprietary blazingly-fast rendering engine. Even when Netscape breaks things (like "delay image loading") I (or helpful netizens) have always been able to find a way to get it back, and in principle I could hack the code if it was REALLY important.