After Google released Chrome in 2008, Firefox became irrelevant to some extent. But now, it is back with a complete makeover to take head on other browsers. Mozilla released a new version last year, code-named Quantum, which uses less memory than any competition and it is fast. But what makes it stand out from other browsers is that Firefox now offers privacy tools and a “container” that can be installed to prevent Facebook from monitoring the activities of users across the web.
The new Firefox update and Chrome have a lot of things in common. Like the use of 1Password, extensions to prevent videos from automatically playing when visiting websites, support for uBlock Origin. There is nothing that you cannot do on Firefox that you were able to do on Chrome before. But Firefox has an extension called Facebook Container which will make it difficult for Facebook to track the browsing activities outside social media. Inside the privacy settings, users can now turn on tracking protection to block online trackers from collecting browser data across multiple websites.
Chrome, on the other hand, also includes a built-in filter that blocks inappropriate ads from loading. There is no doubt that Chrome has tough security too but Google said that the one thing they could do better is that they can include privacy settings to block tracking technology which may be similar to the tools that Firefox includes. In addition, Mozilla offers Firefox Focus, a privacy-centric mobile browser that blocks trackers by default and purges web browsing history as soon as the page is closed. These are web products which Mozilla may expand in the long term.
Firefox update consumes less memory so it should, technically, use less battery. But whether Firefox is faster than Chrome is not yet clear and established. According to StatCounter, Firefox owns about 12% of the desktop browser market where Chrome has about 67%. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari are even farther behind in the desktop market. Chrome browser is more popular on every device than Firefox and only lightweight versions of Firefox are available for Apple’s iOS devices.
