Google Chrome has recently hit the milestone of 200 million users, making it the second most popular browser after Internet Explorer. Having said that, keeping the numbers aside Firefox has always been a favorite browser, especially for those who have recently discovered that when it comes to fast browsing there are better things than IE. At E-junkie.info maximum readers use Firefox, with IE at second place followed by Chrome.

So how does one choose sides when it comes to never ending browser war between Chrome and Firefox?

Let's analyze each factor in terms of speed, stability, features etc and try to understand what makes Firefox so popular and Google Chrome so desirable:


Speed

The first and foremost factor that determines a browser's success is speed. Although Firefox has always been working on improving its speed (and it has) but when it comes to Chrome, it has been fast from the very beginning. Its not that Firefox speed is not good enough, but when it comes to comparing it with Chrome's lightening fast speed, Chrome wins hands down.

Another factor that adds up to speedy browsing in Chrome, is its auto fill feature in the address bar. Just type the first few letters and Chrome will find it for you, all you need to do is hit enter...pretty  much like Google's instant search.


Bloat

Browser bloating is a browser's ability to use system's resources to get bigger. When it comes to memory use tests, Firefox has always had an upper hand. But lately a lot of users are complaining slow-downs caused due to browser bloat. Although, Chrome uses a lot of memory too, but when compared with Firefox, browser slow-downs complaints are comparatively less.


Extensions

This is one area, where Firefox has always been better than Chrome. If there is anything that you would like your browser to do, Firefox's add-ons (extensions) has it all. It is their extensive extensions ecosystem that has users coming back for more.

Chrome on the other hand has an impressive gallery of extensions, but let's not forget that Firefox is developer's favorite, so if you looking for more options in terms of browser applications, then Firefox it your answer.

Firefox has an excellent plugin called firebug which is an excellent tool to debug webpages. It helps in debugging JavaScript code as well as trying out various CSS rules dynamically on a page. In this plugin you can clearly view all the GET and POST requests that are sent from the page. So basically Firefox browser is an invaluable tool for developers.


Ctrl+T

Browsing is all about hitting Ctrl+T and opening endless numbers of tab hoping that your browser will be able to sustain the information overload that you are about to impart on yourself. Before we compare both the browsers in this particular area, you should know that if you are a Linux user, chances are that Firefox will pretty much suck if you open more than 5 tabs. But it works beautifully with Mac or Windows.

On the other hand, Chrome has no inhibitions towards Linux and works great with Mac and Windows as well. If you are anything like me and have numerous tabs open then Chrome is more stable as opposed to Firefox because chrome splits all open tabs into different processes and thus a rogue plugin crashing in one of the open tabs affects only that tab in Chrome and thus not bringing down the entire browser.


Conclusion

A lot of people I know have happily switched from Firefox to Chrome, and once they get used to Chrome's simple interface they have never looked back. But like I've mentioned before, most developers and programmers prefer Firefox and frown upon Chrome. Also if you look back at different versions of Firefox, they have managed to improve a lot with every new version that they release.

At the end of the day it is the user's comfort with a given browser and you will be surprised to know that there are many out there who prefer Opera over Chrome or Firefox. And I have tried it too...it works surprisingly well.

So who wins the war between Chrome and Firefox?

Well, it is an endless debate. I for example use both the browsers..since I need to be logged into different email ids. But when it comes to browsing, Chrome is my favorite. Which one is yours?

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