Parallels between 2nd browser war and the coming OS war...

[chessnerd]

In the mid to late 90s a war was going on all over the world. This war was not fought in cities or forests or deserts, but in cyberspace. It was the first browser war between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. As you know, IE was the clear winner and, ten years later, a second browser war has begun with Firefox, Chrome, and Opera as IEs new opponents with Firefox leading the way.

Here's the thing: I believe that we are nearing the first OS war and there is a strong parallel with the second browser war:

Windows is obviously IE and Mac OS X is Firefox. This makes Linux Opera and, since Chrome OS is coming out soon, that would be Chrome. Windows and IE have been around since the early nineties and have a commanding hold on the market. Mac OS X and Firefox are a new spin based on code from an old OS and browser that is making strong headway. Linux and Opera are products of the nineties that, while they are free to use and strong contenders, most people have never even heard of them. Finally the Chrome OS and browser are looking to be a strong contender, even though they have just recently been announced by Google, because they have the power of a corporation behind them while being free and open source.

Has anyone else noticed these parallels?

[jrusso2]

Not really because OS X should be Safari not Firefox. And Linux should not be Opera as it is proprietary. It would be Firefox.

[chessnerd]

Not really because OS X should be Safari not Firefox. And Linux should not be Opera as it is proprietary. It would be Firefox.

I'm talking more about market share. Firefox has 15-20% market share, Linux has 1-5% in desktop computers. That isn't much of a parallel. I suppose Safari would work for OS X because Safari does have about 10% of the market, which is comparable for OS X, but I was comparing OS X to Firefox because, like Firefox to IE, OS X is Windows' biggest threat.

[perce]

OS X is Windows' biggest threat.

No, Apple has almost no market outside North America

[FLMKane]

Chrome OS is linux. It uses the linux kernel.

[tadcan]

The big differance between netscape and mac is won was a product for everybody and the other is a niche product.

Macs can only expand so far because of price, a browser can be on most desktops.

[coldReactive]

According to W3c, the biggest market share in the OS realm is Windows XP:

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_desktop_operating_systems

Windows (all versions) still takes over 90% of the share.

[Mark76]

IE doesn't go back to the early 90s, since the web as we know it wasn't invented until around 1991 and Bill Gates was famously dismissive of it until he realised that Netscape was stealing a march on MS.

The first edition of the IE browser came with Windows 95. Interestingly it and Firefox share a common ancestor.

[Screwdriver0815]

I'm talking more about market share. Firefox has 15-20% market share, Linux has 1-5% in desktop computers. That isn't much of a parallel. I suppose Safari would work for OS X because Safari does have about 10% of the market, which is comparable for OS X, but I was comparing OS X to Firefox because, like Firefox to IE, OS X is Windows' biggest threat.

Firefox does not have just 15-20% marketshare

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

[HoKaze]

I must disagree with "mac os x is windows' biggest threat". Last I checked wasn't there some data at a microsoft conference that actually showed Linux with higher market share than Mac OS X? Also microsoft have said that they're biggest threat is actually windows, or rather, pirated copies of it. <_<;
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'd cite sources but I can't remember where I saw 'em.

[-grubby]

Firefox does not have just 15-20% marketshare

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

W3C, as far as I know, collects statistics from visitors of it's own site. Considering that it's a website for web developers, it makes perfect sense that most people will be browsing it with Firefox or other browsers.

I hope this is a better statistic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

[MikeTheC]

The problem with this thread is the sheer and utter lack of any definitive and credible facts in it.

The fact of the matter is that there are no absolute and established facts on this matter whatsoever.

[Whiffle]

I strongly dislike the usage of the word "war" to describe competition between different computer operating systems. War is absolutely the wrong term to use, especially if you've any idea what a real war is like.

[kevdog]

the problem with this thread is the sheer and utter lack of any definitive and credible facts in it.

The fact of the matter is that there are no absolute and established facts on this matter whatsoever.

+1

[oldsoundguy]

A more realistic counter since the source base is HUGE!

http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php

Windows has been losing market share at the rate of about 1% per month for quite some time now.

PLUS .. most of those that have pre purchased Windows 7 are Vista users looking for something better and not wanting to admit that XP was better (except for the security)! (I know several that fall into that catagory!)
(a big Vista issue has started to show itself .. it eats SATA drives in laptops!)

[JillSwift]

The problem with this thread is the sheer and utter lack of any definitive and credible facts in it.

The fact of the matter is that there are no absolute and established facts on this matter whatsoever.
^^^ That

[markbuntu]

If chrome will run office they might have a chance at taking on MS because that is the biggest impediment to non-ms OS market penetration and a big reason why linux is not more widely adopted.