I'm not a linux purist,but I'm a person who is using linux for about 80 to 90 percent of my task(browsing,multimedia etc).Actually i love linux very much,but forced to use windows for other 10 percent(games).So mainly i use linux most of the time.
Let us see first what made internet explorer notorious among the web browser space.IE had enjoyed being the default browser for windows platform(now also, except some contries).It enjoys the market share of above 60 percentage in windows browser space.Its trident engine is 'famous' for its slow speed.These are the major accusitions against IE.These days i have serious doubt against firefox.Is it going to be the IE in linux platform?
Firefox is one of the browser which seriously challenged microsoft in browser market and it was able to win a major portion of its war against IE.It is because firefox was able to provide a richer internet experience to its user by providing lot new features and mainly by providing much more speed to load pages.These days speed is a major factor in determinig the selection of a web browser.A lot new browsers like chrome and safari are coming with much improved fastness.So speed is a main factor.
Now lets take the case of linux.If you are linux user,let me ask you some questions.Which is your main browser,probably the one and only one?Are you using(have you ever used) windows along with linux for browsing?Have you ever noticed the speed difference between windows version of firefox and linux version of firefox?Answering these questons will create same doubt in your mind.Is firefox the next IE in linux?
Firefox is an open source project for creating a better browser experience.Linux is also an open source,probably the daddy of all open source projects.Firefox is the default browser with about 90 percent linux distros.(mainly the popular ubuntu and Gnome,xfce etc).Other distros like Kde having konqueror as its default,but most people installs firefox.So linux platform is mainly depending on firefox for its browsing.So firefox got monopoly in linux browser market like IE in windows.Another case is speed.There is great difference in speed between linux FF and windows FF.Linux FF is about 20 to 30 percent slower than its windows version.I recently installed FF 3.5 RC in both windows and linux.The thing didn't change much.So linux version of FF is slow comparing to windows version like IE in windows.So we can definetly tell that firefox is the IE in linux platform which is so arrogant,enjoying the monopoly and reluctant to the improvement and most importantly so slow,comparing to its windows version.
Why FF is so slow in linux?Can't they make it faster than windows or at least equal to to windows?The anser is yes.Definitely FF can make the linux version much faster.(I heard that the linux version of chrome will be faster than the windows verion)So it is only the matter of choice.Why firefox is showing this much negligence to linux,a platform which showed the model for its work and revenue?Firefox was always supported by open source community but it gave only last place for the biggest open source project linux in its plans after windows and mac.
If this is going to continue like this,firefox will also have to face same fate as of IE, like decline in the market share and linux users will dumb it because of its slowness.This is near.The linux version of chrome is extensively developed by google and the beta version of opera 10 shows great promise.After the release of opera 10 and chrome in linux it is slowly,but steadily going to happen.The winners and losers of tomorrows browser space will be determined by the speed.Fast and furious will win tomorrows browser war...
I want to know your opinion also.So please post them in comments.
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4 comments:
I completely agree with your sentiments- Firefox is slow on linux. Hopefully Chrome will support flash video so I can dump FF.
I also agree with your comments. Firefox is becoming a giant resource hog in linux, and it is really slow. In windows you don't have such issues with firefox and this all seems to be a bit sneaky to me. The aim should be to serve the opensource community rather than trying to blast internet explorer off.
On the other hand, I started experimenting with midori on ubuntu and it seems very promising indeed. Epiphany is not bad either. However I use a number of specific extensions on ff (like zotero, scrapbook, etc) for which I still have to rely on ff. I hope firefox pays more attention to the open source community in the -near- future.
best wishes xxx Emre A.
Thank you for reading my post and posting the comments ..
I have used many alternative browsers in linux..midori is promising...but crashing too often.it can't load a page with lot of flash and other things..but it is in alpha stage..so we should expect this..
Another promising browser is arora..it is very stable..it is based on webkit...but don't have the speed to beat firefox..so we can wait for google chrome..
I half-agree with what you are saying- Firefox IS slow. BUT on linux, with most distributions, you have the option of installing another browser with no need to even open Firefox. You just open up Software Center, Synaptic, even a terminal and apt-get install the thing. It's not exactly monopolizing if you have choice.
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