Chrome on OS X=More Chrome Users

By  |  Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 8:26 am

Over at Computerworld, Gregg Keizer is reporting on new browser stats from Net Applications that show Chrome overtaking Safari as the #3 browser last week, presumably as a result of the launch of the first beta of Chrome for OS X. For last week, 4.4 percent of people in Net Application’s pool used Chrome, a leap of .4 percent. That puts it above Safari’s 4.37 percent, but it’s a squeaker.

To satisfy my own curiosity, I checked out the same numbers for Technologizer visitors.

November 1st-November 30th
Firefox: 42.09%
Internet Explorer: 30.95%
Safari: 14.65%
Chrome: 9.69%
Opera: 1.36%

December 8th-December 15th
Firefox: 40.49%
Internet Explorer: 22.86%
Safari: 20.71%
Chrome: 11.57%
Opera: 1.35%

The main thing that Technologizer’s numbers show is that a week of data isn’t enough to draw firm conclusions from: The most striking change from November isn’t Chrome’s growth of about two percentage points, but the fact that IE cratered and Safari jumping by six points. I’m sure that just indicates that we had a story or two of particular interest to Mac users, and so OS X visits made up a larger slice of the pie than usual. Net Applications’ pool involves a vastly larger number of users, so a week of data means more.

My gut tells me that Chrome faces more daunting odds on the Mac than it does on Windows, since the average Mac owner seems to be a happy Safari user with no particular desire to switch browsers. (Among Technologizer users, the ratio of Safari-to-Firefox use is 2:1; for Windows, the ratio of IE-to-Firefox is about 1:1, with Firefox having a small edge.)

I also think, though, that Google hasn’t really yet brought out the big guns when it comes to promoting Chrome. Wonder what would happen to its usage if it was showcased continuously on the Google.com home page, touted more prominently to Gmail and Google Toolbar users, etc., etc., etc.?

 
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4 Comments For This Post

  1. chrysinthe Says:
    December 15th, 2009 at 8:37 am

    Haven’t seen anything in Chrome for Mac yet that would make me switch from my current Safari/Firefox combo. Started with Safari when it came out because it was the first browser that I found for the Mac with tabs, and I’m a creature of habit, I guess. However I seem to be one of the Mac users who gets inexplicable beachballs in Safari just often enough to be annoyed, so that might be a motivation to switch.

  2. Chris Says:
    December 15th, 2009 at 10:48 am

    Ditto chrysinthe. Tried Chrome, but it didn’t do anything better than Safari. Some java troubles, too. I did like how tabs opened next to the one you were currently in, though. That was nice.

  3. Chad Says:
    December 16th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    Im not sure i trust your numbers about browser footprints.

  4. Jason Says:
    December 18th, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Firefox has all the stuff I like, including reconfigs, add on’s, and adaptations that work for me. For some personal quirk I demand having the bookmarks listed on the left as a sidebar. Maybe that is just me but without it, the bookmarks I mostly use would have to be activated and viewed from the top pull down menu.
    Chrome is fast, but doesn’t allow ABP as of this writing, nor numerous other add on’s.
    You’d think after this tortuous delay Mac users would have been provided a more deluxe update, but it appears to be the PC early beta that was thrown out there a year ago or more. :-/