Firefox 2 Downloads Top 2 million in 24 Hours

linuxci writes "Firefox 2.0 has had over two million downloads in 24 hours with a peak rate of over 30 downloads a second. This means Firefox is well on track to beat IE7's three million in four days. Of course stats don't equal users but it's interesting to see that the demand for Firefox is currently outstripping IE."

But who needs to download IE?

[Aliencow]

These stats aren't worth crap, but it's cool Firefox got 2 million downloads. How many Windows installs were installed in 2 days when Win98 was released?

Re:But who needs to download IE?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, IE7 isn't default in XP.

To be fair...

[Anonymous Coward]

Users most likely to download a browser are probably already using firefox with it's auto-update. IE will see a huge roll out with windows update and Iceweasel will see a limited rollout repackaged for linux distros. Me, I'll wait another 6 months for ff2 to be marked stable in portage. These figures are meaningless.

mainly mac and windows installs

[cies]

i thinks this must be mainly mac ans windows installs, linux user mostly use a package that is build by their distro and shipped from the distibutions package servers. for instance i just did a "sudo apt-get upgrade" on kubuntu 6.10-rcX.

i don't think the mozilla team can actually measure these amounts.

So what the hell happened to all the fuss?

[Channard]

Specifically, the fuss about the US Gov demanding IE be removed from Windows? It seems to have disappeared from public memory, just like Bird Flu.

Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT?

[linuxci]

Everyone should know by now that extensions often take a few weeks to get updated. The extension mechanism can be annoying when there's a major update but it's like that so that extension authors are encouraged to test their extensions with new versions.

Most people actually use Firefox without extensions and by default it's a lot more featureful than IE6 and about as featureful as IE7 some people say too much was put in 2.0. You can't please everybody so instead of putting everything under the sun like Seamonkey (the Mozilla suite) or Opera they've decided on the options that are of most use to the most people and allowed others to add the extra features.

Also worth noting is that bugfix support for 1.5 will continue for a while so you can keep using it to wait for all your extensions to be compatible with the new version.

Also, there's choice in the market if Firefox is not for you. I personally prefer Firefox to Opera, but Opera is a good browser and it's worth trying it may suit your needs better.

Re:But who needs to download IE?

[eneville]

Well, IE7 isn't default in XP.

firefox isnt default in windows either

Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out

[arose]

Once Windows automatically downloads IE7 next month, then compare downloads.

The current statistics are interesting because they show user demand as opposed to market share.

No matter how good Firefox may be, it'll never overcome "already installed and automatically updated".

That's funny, because I'm typing this from an Ubuntu 6.10 CD with Firefox 2.0 while the system is installing in the background, when I reboot Firefox 2.0 will be already installed and automatically updated with the rest of the system. On Windows systems the "already installed" part depends on OEMs and automatic updates are done by Firefox itself. Will you be able to browse the web with IE 7 while Vista installs? Will there be system-wide automatic updates or will people still need to update a large part of the system by hand?

Nothing unexpected

[Ksempac]

Who are the people who are most likely to download a new browser right after its release ? The guys who read IT news everyday with great interest...Call them Geeks, Devellopers, or typical Slashdot's reader it doesn t matter...

The point is : do theses guys use IE as their main browser ? No.
Are they using Firefox as their main browser ? The majority of them does.

Therefore they are more likely to get Firefox 2.0 than IE7 (although many of them will get both in case they stumble upon a IE-only website). So its absolutly normal that the initial rush is in favor of Firefox...In the same way that Firefox's RC were more used than IE7's RC. Actually if Firefox had a lower download rush i would have quite worried for them.

Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT?

[slack_prad]

It's a nice tactic to say 'Bye bye karma' or 'This won't please the mods' and force the mod to mark it insightful/interesting

oh, bye bye karma.

Re:Download both

[linuxci]

You mean only those running XP or later? Mozilla now have an ideal target in Windows 2000 (businesses) and 98 (still in some peoples homes) as well as Linux and Mac.

Re:But who needs to download IE?

[drsmithy]

That was 8 years ago and people were desperate to get off of 95.

No, they weren't. Indeed, the take-up of Windows 98 could only be described - generously - as "sluggish".

Slashdot, at the time, was overjoyed at how poorly received Windows 98 was, considering it another sign of Microsoft's downfall and using it as another example of how Linux on everyone's desktop was only 12 months away...

Re:But who needs to download IE?

[Zarniwoop_Editor]

Perhaps the stats are not worth crap, but it certainly shows a trend.
I for one welcome anything that provides a choice, especially when it comes to microsofts dominance.
I'm not a member of the "Microsoft is evil" club but I do think that their market share is certainly not based on the merits of their quality products.

Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update?

[aitan]

IE7 can be installed only by users that are running WinXP with SP2 or Win2003 and have enabled the WGA, so all the users that are perfectly happy with their Win2000 aren't able to install it. Those that still prefer to avoid SP2 (there are strange users out there) also can't install it.
And lastly all those that have an old system with pre-win2000 versions just can't get any update from MS.
And many organizations seems willing to block the install of IE7.

So not all windows users will get IE7. I don't have any statistics to say the percentages but I wouldn't be surprised if after 6 months no more than 50% of windows users are using IE7.

Re:And what about RC3 Downloads?

[tOaOMiB]

Alright, they're up to 2,000,003.

Or as a serious guyss, 2,050,000. I mean, come on guys. How many people really downloaded RC3? Or use Ubuntu? When we're talking about downloads in the millions, we're talking about what normal people are doing. The stats of nerds don't significantly contribute.

Re:To be fair...

[_pruegel_]

There is no auto-update from Firefox 1.5 to 2.0 yet. And there is no Windows Update for IE7 yet. Those figures are all but meaningless. The numbers show that early adopters are equaly likely to download FF2 and IE7 (or maybe download both).

Re:It still isn't production quality software!

[Faizdog]

Ok,
I won't comment on how you use your browser. But here's a question, is there ANY browser that would be able to handle the stress tests you used?

If there is another browser that can handle "hundreds" of open sessions, and still work well for you, then perhaps that is a better fit for your purposes.

Otherwise you're pushing your browser to the extremes, then pointing out its faults, however nothing else can handle it either.

Re:But who needs to download IE?

[crazygamer]

Well, IE7 isn't default in XP.

That's the point. As soon as Vista comes out IE7 will probably top out Firefox within a few days.

Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

You have to be kidding or blind. Use what works the best, but always reevaluate when the variables change. If we didn't we'd still be using netscape 4. Ie 7 is a huge upgrade and much much better than the previous edition FF2 is more like IE 5 in terms of improvement over the previous edition. IE looks better and has some features that Firefox really could use( the button that shows all tabs in single window and the ease of choosing a bookmarked site). Its pretty sweet. But for my money, Opera wins. it seems to devise and perfect innovations years before anyone else. I guess firefox is a close second or least it was until the release. I haven't made up my mind which I prefer ie or firefox. I do know that firefox seems a bit flaky. the default skin is ugly my favorite skins haven't been updated yet. Another one I found that said it worked, didn't. to be fair IE 7 seems to suck, when you first start using it. On two computers I've set up with it, its locked up on first run (then its fine afterwards, what do you want its microsoft! But then it grows on you like fine cheese. I find it matches well with a fine merlot from the northern part of california and wagnu beef.