Firefox Web Browser Downloaded One Billion Times
One billion. That's the amount of dollars that the Cash For Clunkers
program devoured in just a week. That's also the amount of dollars you
likely wish you had. And believe it or not, that's the amount of times
Mozilla's Firefox browser has been downloaded since its inception in
2004. Just as July drew to a close, the one billionth download of
what's likely the web's most soaring browser in terms of popularity
took place.
As we detailed in our review of Safari 4, Firefox holds a special place in the hearts of Web browsers (people, not software) because of the massive library of add-ons and plug-ins available. Everything from in-browser blog tools to performance meters can be downloaded gratis, and the dedicated developer backing keeps new material surfacing all the time.
Of course, we suspect that the one billion number is somewhat flawed. Just think--how many times have you personally downloaded Firefox on various machines/after formats/etc.? We'd wager more than one. In other words, there's no way one billion people are using Firefox, but even with duplicate downloads presumably included, this milestone is certainly one for Mozilla to treasure. It took five years to hit a billion--we're guessing the next billion happens in far, far less time.
As we detailed in our review of Safari 4, Firefox holds a special place in the hearts of Web browsers (people, not software) because of the massive library of add-ons and plug-ins available. Everything from in-browser blog tools to performance meters can be downloaded gratis, and the dedicated developer backing keeps new material surfacing all the time.
Of course, we suspect that the one billion number is somewhat flawed. Just think--how many times have you personally downloaded Firefox on various machines/after formats/etc.? We'd wager more than one. In other words, there's no way one billion people are using Firefox, but even with duplicate downloads presumably included, this milestone is certainly one for Mozilla to treasure. It took five years to hit a billion--we're guessing the next billion happens in far, far less time.
