(The top blue line is total Internet Explorer visits.)
The data backs up what you are saying. IE6 is definitely dead!
I still prefer Chrome, but partly because it is my preferred browser on Mac too - I like consistency. I also think that their devkit is ever so slightly better... but in saying that I'm not unhappy with IE - it does what I tell it to do, it's fairly consistent and feels quite light (compared to Firefox which still feels heavy to me even after their improvements...). Admittedly there are some tricks you need to learn in the IE devkit (e.g. add an attribute of style to create new CSS definitions) but all in all I think they've done a pretty good job at cleaning up their act!
PS: I used to do ALL my development in Firefox with Firebug and the Webdev kit. I find now that Chrome/IE handles things very well: though Chrome still allows me to install the Webdev kit if I need it (e.g. rulers, security checks etc). I guess I switch browser camps often based on my needs :)
At home I switched back from Chrome to Firefox this spring. I think Firefox performs better on Ubuntu. On the Win 7 netbook I share with my wife we run only Chrome.
So uhm, I guess my story is that all three of those mainstream browsers are totally decent these days.
For the internet savvy, it's more a feature competition at this point mixed with user loyalty (Firefox, you'll always have my heart, even if Chrome is better)
Stat Counter usually seems more reliable to me
And whats their error margin? Sounds like bad journalism to me.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgXFz9xLvI4UdHp...
FF is slower than Chrome (at least the desktop versions).
FF still doesn't have separate processes for tabs, so when one fails, the whole browser crashes.
And who cares about memory use on the desktop? I got 8GB, and my browser never even gets close to maxing that out. 16GB can be bought for around $45.
http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Chrome-tab-cr...
I don't remember the last time the whole browser crashed, and I do web development.
FF is slower than Chrome
The constant updates? I'm getting used to it (although I can't really tell a difference one version to the next). It's the slowness and the crashing that gets to me.
Chrome has me spoiled I guess.
I removed Chrome from my Android devices (what for?) and only have it on my desktop machines for tests. I start it once every fortnight.
Firefox, with its sync feature, keeps my browsing experience in order. I've to admit that I'm using the Beta 'channel' on both Windows and Android. The readability mode is amazing. My add-ons are really helpful.
Oh - and I didn't even mention that it's the fastest browser on an Android device for all I can tell (and so fast on my desktop that I couldn't give the crown to either IE, Chrome or FF - they all are plenty fast and good enough).
While I might sound a bit like a fan here (and I admit that I do like that browser quite a bit), I wonder what provoked your 'na na na na na!' Nelson style answer. The speed issue seems to be .. debatable / bad luck. Frequent updates are bad, but Chrome is good? Uhm.. Hard to take that serious.
Let's relax. I think that there's no need to argue about the value FF brought to the web. You might prefer 'newer' contestants and that's really fine! But bashing open-source projects that are alive, kicking and innovating, with some not-quite-that-creative broad 'ugh, slooow' criticism isn't .. nice or useful. In my world, at least.
But I marvel at the difference and see that even with all these updates, the gap between Chrome and Firefox gets wider and wider.
Are you using FF while browsing? Because I'm pretty sure those MS ads are using User Agent targeting. I would not expect you see any IE ads while already using IE.
This is a misconception held by people that haven't used Firefox as of late. I actually frequently encounter crashes in Chrome, whereas I do not with Firefox.
Anyway, Chrome and Firefox are tied in Kraken, which is the benchmark Mozilla created to simulate real world loads. (And thus, presumably, the benchmark they care most about when optimizing.)
As for frequent updates, Firefox is a little more noticeable because you see it checking your extensions, but they don't update any more frequently than Chrome. If anything, they still update less frequently.
(1) I've heard the old Android browser on some phones can report it's user agent as safari or some generic looking webkit that might get folded into safari numbers.
(2) site bias? Purely as an illustrative example imagine if Apple.com was one of the sites in Net Apps network while Android.com was in the Statcounter network.
(3) actually accurate. The wikimedia numbers are 10% mobile safari and 4.5% android.
Firefox rarely gets over 2g with similar use.