Chrome still the top web browser at ten years old

When it was first released 10 years ago Chrome was marketed as a fresh take on the browser. It was first launched as a Windows only beta app, before it made its way to Linux and MacOS in 2009.

Chrome launched when users and developers grew dissatisfied with Internet Explorer

When Chrome first launched, the Internet browser landscape looked very different. Firefox had been steadily gaining ground on the more popular and venerable Explorer.

Google borrowed components from Apple's WebKit rendering engine as well as Firefox to help bring Chrome to life. It made all of Chrome's source code available in the Chromium Project. Chrome focused on web standards and respected HTML5. All of this during a time when Microsoft with Internet Explorer was struggling to adhere to open web standards.

Chrome was also a big step forward in how tabs could be used in that it had "sandboxed" individual tabs so that should one tab crash the others would still remain unaffected.

Chrome now dominates the browser market

According to netmarketshare Chrome now has more than 60 percent of the desktop market share. Despite the fact that Internet Explorer has now been replaced by Microsoft Edge, it still ranks second with 12.8 percent of the market. Firefox is third with just a bit less at 12.5 percent. Edge is a distant fourth at just 3.49 percent. Safari, the browser specifically for Apple computers, has just 3.49 percent. Opera, an excellent browser, has a mere $1.56 percent. Vivaldi, which I use now on my main computers, has a minuscule .08 even though I find it works best for me.

Chrome has dominated the market now for several years. Chrome engineers have continued to improve the product and have pushed the latest web standards. It is now perhaps more than a web browser and has become an entire platform that can run on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and even iOS for Apple phones.

Chrome powers the new Chrome OS

Chrome OS is Google's new lightweight operating system that is used in laptops and recently tablets. Google has been bringing Android apps over to the Chrome OS making its Chromebooks and tablets more useful. Even fully-fledged Linux apps are coming soon to the Chrome OS. Chrome is helping push progressive web apps to make them a lot better. Although Chrome has not seen a major redesign in years unlike Firefox, a Material Design Refresh is slated for the browser this month.

Future of Chrome may be more as a platform than just a web browser

There are concerns that Chrome is becoming dominant as was Internet Explorer. It is dominant among web developers.

Google engineers steer the latest web standards and push these into Chrome. Other browsers need to catch up or risk falling even further behind.

Final thoughts on browsers

All the popular browsers such as Chrome and Firefox do most things well. Internet Explorer is now superceded by Edge. While I have tried Edge and it works well for most tasks I do not like the fact that Microsoft pushes it by not allowing one to uninstall it, as it comes pre-integrated with Windows. Every other browser you can download and uninstall.

I have tried all the main browsers except Safari but there are particular tasks involving writing for Digital Journal and using my blog that they do not do everything as I want. I used Opera for a long period as it did everything exactly as I wanted, and also had features that appealed to me. However, all of a sudden it did not work as it had in the past copying material to my blog. I decided to go back to Chrome but it did the same thing. I then checked Vivaldi and found that it still worked. I decided to change to Vivaldi until things change again.

Most people probably find the browser they have is satisfactory and have no desire to change.This would explain why Internet Explorer is still the second most popular browser even though it has long been replaced by Edge. However, browsers can all be downloaded free. It is worth trying them out to see which one suits you and you like best. If you want to be even more adventurous and dislike Microsoft and Windows you can also try out numerous Linux operating systems that can be downloaded free as wel

Previously published in Digital Journal

Vivaldi a new browser may be the right one for you. Try it.

There are already plenty of web browsers all of which work relatively well but there are five main browsers that together constitute almost all of those used except for a small percentage of users. Some of the many other browsers are well worth trying.

The five main browsers, with the percentage who use them, as of February 2017 are: Chrome 62.95 percent, Firefox 14.81, Internet Explorer 9.62, Safari, 5.34 percent, and Edge 3.68 percent. Safari is the Apple browser, and Edge the new Microsoft browser. The next most popular browser Opera has only 1.6 percent of the market. Vivaldi has a minuscule .03 percent of the market.

I have several different computers, three of which use Chrome, and on my main computer I am now using Vivaldi. I used to use Opera which I liked a bit better than Chrome although it has many similarities. However, I encountered some difficulties loading the composition page for my blog. I had downloaded Vivaldi earlier to try out. Rather than bother trying to fix the problem with Opera I decided this was an opportunity to try out Vivaldi. I found it quite easy to use and to have all the features of Chrome and Opera and even more. The new history features are described in a recent Digital Journal article. An earlier article discusses other features.

Vivaldi was developed by Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Tatsuki Tomita. Tetzchner is also a co-founder of Opera. On the appended video he explains why he left Opera and came to develop Vivaldi. He also explains why he thought that there was room for another browser in a field where it is quite difficult for those browsers that are not already popular to survive. Wikipedia says of Vivaldi:The browser is aimed at staunch technologists, heavy Internet users, and previous Opera web browser users disgruntled by Opera's transition from the Presto layout engine to the Blink layout engine, which removed many popular features. Vivaldi aims to revive the old, popular features of Opera 12. The browser has gained popularity since the launch of its first technical preview. The browser has one million users as of January 2017.[While the description makes it sound as if the browser might be difficult for ordinary users to use, I found it to be as easy if not easier to use than the more popular browsers. No doubt there are plenty of features that I do not use but it has the features I need and use all the time. Anyone who uses Chrome, or Opera should have no difficulty using Vivaldi. There is a side bar that can be opened or closed easily in which you can store notes and there are links to other features you often use. Vivaldi retains the Speed Dial of Opera in which you can store websites you often visit as tiles and just click on the tiles to access the site. Vivaldi can also use Chrome extensions.

For those who want to try the Opera browser it can be downloaded here. Opera had more than 350 million users worldwide as of the end of 2014. In July of 2016 the browser was sold to the Chinese firm of Oihoo for $600 million, but in November Golden Brick Capital acquired Opera along with Oihoo. Both Opera and Vivaldi are free so it does not cost anything to try them. Vivaldi will work with Linux systems. Vivaldi can be downloaded free from here. The latest stable version 1.8.770.50 is now available. I appended one of many reviews of Vivaldi. There is a forum for users to discuss issues with the browser.