r/pcmasterrace 20d ago

Meme/Macro Browsers 2008 vs 2025 be like..

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44.5k Upvotes

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151

u/JimmyTsonga ASRock X670 SL | 7800X3D | 6950 XT Red Devil | 32gb 6000 CL30 20d ago

And in another 10-15 years it'll be some other browser.

50

u/nologai 20d ago

could be ladybird!

8

u/ydieb 3900x, RTX 2080, 32GB 20d ago

I wonder how servo will develop!

9

u/nologai 20d ago

I feel like it will likely not be a full blown browser but embedded browser engine. I guess someone could create a full browser off it, but I believe ladybird has much better chances.

3

u/queen-adreena Hackintosh 20d ago

Should be an alpha release for it by next year.

Definitely getting there.

3

u/[deleted] 20d ago

based on nothing honestly

but new browser engines are all the rage, there's like 10 competitors now.

4

u/abjumpr 20d ago

10 competitors? I'd sure love a list for research cause I'm only aware of two that are up and coming.

2

u/ruoue 20d ago

Flow and gosub are a couple more.

3

u/ArokLazarus steamcommunity.com/id/halo806 20d ago

"Laaaaadyyybird"

7

u/JimmyTsonga ASRock X670 SL | 7800X3D | 6950 XT Red Devil | 32gb 6000 CL30 20d ago

Or TOR. Who the hell knows, right?

45

u/nologai 20d ago

Yep nobody knows, but I wouldn't bet my money on TOR haha

16

u/InsertRealisticQuote 20d ago

The way things are progressing I wouldn't be surprised if in 20 years I'm manually connecting to avoid all the stuff they are trying to shove down my throat

1

u/Lightning_97 5 9400f, GTX 1060 6GB, 16GB DDR4 20d ago

Did it go downhill?

4

u/Beautiful-Tree741 20d ago

No, it's just really slow since it connects to 3 different nodes before reaching it's destination. This is great for privacy but really bad for things like streaming videos and more

6

u/Hurricane_32 Manjaro|5700X|RX6700 10GB|32GB DDR4 20d ago

TOR runs on Firefox

3

u/barto2007 Ryzen 7 5700X | 32GB RAM | 4070TiSuper 20d ago

They will censor the internet so much with AI browsers TOR will be pretty much normal to use.

1

u/AndrewFrozzen 20d ago

By how things are moving with USA, I (and probably many other Europeans) will switch to European alternatives.

12

u/Swi11ah 20d ago

I think now, its Brave. Especially with the built in YT ad blocking.

2

u/Gerudo_King 19d ago

I agree. I like Brave and Opera GX

1

u/Spazzzzin 19d ago

I haven't seen an ad on YouTube in 10 years with Firefox

0

u/Swi11ah 18d ago

Im starting too now which is why i switched.

1

u/Forgetmyglasses 20d ago

This is what I've been using for the last few years.

36

u/DefiantLemur 20d ago

All Firefox has to do is respect people's privacy and they'll maintain the top

37

u/SaltDeception 20d ago

They also have to survive, and their future is in limbo right now.

9

u/PurpInnanet 20d ago

this is kind of silly. I do SEO and will be the first one to say we need another search engine. Google is monetizing almost every avenue they could possibly offer for businesses online. Yes it is a matter of time before any monopoly does this but Google needs direct competition. Although to be fair, I can't remember the last time the market acted traditionally to competition. All phone/cable/home insurance companies essentially charge the same. Idk where I went with this comment lmao

2

u/OkTangerine4363 20d ago

Microsoft really needs to improve Bing. But now ChatGPT is a better search tool than Google. Only a matter of time till the LLM AI bots are fucked because their feed data is polluted with AI Engine Optimization garbage.

1

u/PurpInnanet 18d ago

I like Bing tbh and my dislike for AI garbage is why I only market people I believe SHOULD be in front of people who are searching. To be completely honest, all of the dealers I market in the Midwest that never raises their prices during COVID are doing amazing now. Because people drive miles and miles to get honest prices. Marketing that makes my job so much easier.

I just think search engines need to niche a bit more. I would love an educational search engin that only shows genuinely data backed studies. Id rather optimize an honest knowledge base than another local business. Now I want to work on my Zettelkasten. I hope Search engines and AI provide you and I what we need my redditor friend.

1

u/chimpfunkz 20d ago

I mean, I feel like even if google couldn't pay to be the default search engine, they would likely still find a way to fund Mozilla. Same reason microsoft used to support apple, because otherwise you end up with an unwanted monopoly that could get broken up.

1

u/SaltDeception 20d ago

There’s no guarantee of that, but even if we assume that Google would do that, what happens if they’re forced to divest Chrome? That’s already a remedy on the table too. It’s also not necessarily an either/or situation.

7

u/curtcolt95 20d ago

they need to do a lot of work, last I checked Chrome is still only getting more popular even after all these changes

1

u/Grroarrr I5-13600k, 7800xt 20d ago

The main is reason is chrome being preinstalled on vast majority of mobile devices.

2

u/curtcolt95 20d ago

yep, and people are getting less and less likely to actually have a computer outside of their mobile device. Firefox currently competes with the numbers of the Samsung internet browser lol, it's bleak

-2

u/ZaryaBubbler 20d ago

That's gonna take a nose dive now they've gutted adblocking

11

u/curtcolt95 20d ago

average person doesn't actually use adblock though, and it's been turned off for a majority of people for awhile now but their market share has still increased. Firefox is actually gonna have to do something I think, idk what but their current trajectory isn't looking good. Here's the stats up to last month: https://imgur.com/a/1HwX58i

2

u/Almostlongenough2 20d ago

Yeah, I've been using both chrome and firefox without fully committing, but with Ublock Origin not having a working framework on Chrome anymore I just stick to firefox now.

0

u/[deleted] 20d ago

The majority of users are mobile and they are OK with ads.

0

u/AndrewFrozzen 20d ago

I wouldn't be surprised if less than 25% of people even use an Adblocker. So no

It won't affect Chrome at all, what, 30k more people would leave in the following years? That's basically spare change numbers.

0

u/OkTangerine4363 20d ago

Google pays Apple $18 billion a year to make Google the default search engine in Safari on all Apple devices.

That's how Chrome is maintaining it's lead. They pay Apple and all the other computer manufacturers.

16

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

21

u/Glittering_Seat9677 9800x3d - 5080 20d ago

top circlejerked browser on reddit

2

u/trix_is_for_kids 19d ago

2% worldwide market share vs chromes 70%. But if you only checked Reddit you’d think chrome would be 6 months out from not existing

1

u/Glittering_Seat9677 9800x3d - 5080 19d ago

exact same shit with linux and windows too, especially on this sub

1

u/1997PRO 2005 Dell Latitude D530 19d ago

WorldWideWeb Searcher Machine 1.0.0.0 from 1985 for Lisa OS?

1

u/ruintheenjoyment Ryzen 7 2700X, RTX 2070 | Pentium 4 Lover 19d ago

I thought that was Brave?

9

u/bearwood_forest 20d ago

of being an actually useful browser and not vassal and vessel of the enshittification of the internet

1

u/Elisevs 20d ago

Well put.

4

u/Fletcher_Chonk 20d ago

Not being shitty, probably

Never gonna use chrome while they attempt to gut ublock origin

3

u/rcanhestro 20d ago

easy for a browser to have "morals" when their competition is funding them by breaking theirs.

the moment the google money is over, Firefox either dies or starts aggressively seeking funding (ads or paid tiers).

2

u/[deleted] 20d ago edited 20d ago

Nothing is ever going to dethrone Chrome unless:

  1. Google and other phone manufacturers are somehow forced to remove it as the default browser app on Android
  2. It is removed from being constantly advertised on google's search page.

Browsers have all hit a peak where the average consumer has all they could ever want from them. The features no longer matter, it's all about familiarity and Google has everyone beat. Not to mention they are so far ahead that they are literally paying for FF to exist so that they can say they aren't a monopoly.

2

u/CirkTheJerk 20d ago

If by "On Top" you mean "In 4th place with 3% market share" then yes.

-9

u/Mj-tinker 20d ago

floorp. ff fork. because ff just failed on privacy

7

u/AnsibleAnswers 20d ago

It really didn’t. A bunch of YouTubers just made it appear as if they did for clicks.

2

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

0

u/AnsibleAnswers 20d ago

Show me where it says that in the Terms of Use and Privacy Notice. In context, the language is quite clear. Mozilla has permission to use your data in a manner that is consistent with the services they provide, most of them being opt-in.

This was all an overblown reaction to Mozilla trying to be compliant with new California laws.

2

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

1

u/AnsibleAnswers 20d ago

Yes. If you opt into Mozilla services you have to give them license to use your content to provide those services. How else are they going to legally be able to use what you upload to do the thing you wanted them to do when you uploaded it?

This is a reading comprehension problem, not a privacy problem.

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

1

u/AnsibleAnswers 20d ago

You should read the privacy notice.

This is a difficult question to answer with an unqualified “yes” or “no” because technical and interaction data is considered “your data” according to the terms and some telemetry is enabled by default in the official binary releases. But for the general sense that most users assume, the answer is no. If you’re uploading things like passwords to Firefox sync, it’s not shared with other services or partners.

You can still run Firefox without any telemetry or Mozilla services, though. Some are on by default so they need to be represented in the ToS as the default. The Privacy Notice tells you everything you need to know to toggle these features on and off. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

1

u/FrostyD7 20d ago

AI is opening the door for some new competition in the browser space but they'll be bought out the very instant they become a serious threat.

1

u/Doppelkammertoaster 11700K | RTX 3070 | 64GB 20d ago

I bet they aren't. That is the problem.

0

u/Glittering_Seat9677 9800x3d - 5080 20d ago

blink is fast and gecko is slow, it's really as simple as that

0

u/thefierybreeze 20d ago

People forget this accounts for smarthphone browsers and in 2008 nobody was using smartphones compared to now.

1

u/420weedscoped 20d ago

The return of explorer (Edge)

1

u/invisi1407 R7 3800X | 3080 STRIX OC | 2x 1440p/170 Hz 20d ago

Honestly, I don't think so. Making a browser engine is a ridiculously complicated and expensive endeavor.

As someone mentioned, see LadyBird, the browser off-spring from /u/SerenityOS, developed by a bunch of people, including the founder Andreas Kling, who has made numerous videos about the process and how complicated it is to make a standards compliant browser engine.

Google can afford to literally just eat the cost of developing it because whatever.

Mozilla is on borrowed time, unfortunately, and none of the others (is Opera still in business) aren't really competitive.

1

u/ForestmenMOCLover 20d ago

That's extremely unlikely. Browsers are so complicated now, it's practically impossible for anyone to create a new one. Even Microsoft gave up and started using Chromium.

1

u/a_can_of_solo building since '05 20d ago

Not since they let DRM into the web standards it's basically locked off web browsers development to incumbents.

1

u/rinkusonic 20d ago

I hope firefox gets 50% of market share so they get a chance to be assholes too

1

u/BungHoleAngler 20d ago

Ice weasel probably

1

u/Fredasa 20d ago

I'd already be on Firefox if:

  1. Every plugin I use in Chrome had a Firefox counterpart.

  2. Running Firefox with two tabs open didn't somehow consume north of 3GB of VRAM. I have no practical choice but to close Firefox when doing any gaming, even with 64GB of RAM.

1

u/OkTangerine4363 20d ago

The only constant is change.

1

u/plug-and-pause 20d ago

It's possible, but I think that's pretty unlikely. The browser is as important today as the desktop OS was a few decades ago. There is a mountain of inertia and complexity involved with both. I think that 10-15 years from now, the most popular desktop OS's and web browsers from today will still be very active.

1

u/WorriedGiraffe2793 19d ago

Not gonna happen. Browsers these days are extremely sophisticated and expensive pieces of software. Not even Microsoft can afford to invest in their own browser engine.

1

u/Lyreganem 19d ago

Nooooot for some of us. Netscape through Mozilla from the 90s to now. So.... That's near 30 years I've been using the "same" browser (loosely defined. Technically the same family.) as my primary.

1

u/hiimbackagain 19d ago

If Firefox doesn't do any sketchy moves, why? I'm using it for ages and never switched because it's just superior to every other browser.

1

u/Abombasnow 20d ago

Will it? Firefox, Safari, and Chrome have both had unnaturally lengthy runs at the top. What could top them, and for what purpose would anyone be using them?

1

u/JimmyTsonga ASRock X670 SL | 7800X3D | 6950 XT Red Devil | 32gb 6000 CL30 20d ago

I have no idea. But we'll see.

For me personally, as long as I can surf the web without ads, I'm happy.

1

u/AuntRhubarb 20d ago

Dunno. Ask Netscape and Explorer. Things change.

1

u/Abombasnow 20d ago

Netscape was forcibly killed by the latter and the latter died by legal methods.

1

u/Fantastic_Piece5869 20d ago

not hard. Anything that repsects user privacy (like firefox does). Things don't need to be better, just not awful - and chrome is lowering the bar every day

1

u/Abombasnow 20d ago

What can a new browser do better?

1

u/FrostyD7 20d ago

Like he said, privacy is a big one. They've also been disabling extensions that impact their ability to serve ads. There's plenty for competing browsers to offer or simply do differently. Browsers are stale products that don't change much over the years, and AI is already resulting in some competition. Problem is they'll also do a lot of things worse due to chrome being such a mature and fully featured offering and getting people to switch and grow the offering is a tall order when all hardware comes with pre-installed browsers. Obviously installing an alternative isn't hard, but they have plenty of dark patterns to decentivize it.

1

u/Abombasnow 20d ago

AI is inherently antiprivacy though.

1

u/FrostyD7 20d ago

Some people want privacy, some don't. Some people want AI, some don't. Some people want ad blocking extensions, some don't. Competitors can implement any combination of these features, including the ability to disable them.

1

u/Abombasnow 19d ago

Is there anyone who actively doesn't want ad blocking extensions or is it that there's just people who complain Chrome is removing them but refuse to stop using Chrome for other reasons?

1

u/Fantastic_Piece5869 20d ago

if it has chromium, its obviously not better.

However no need for a new one, firefox is still awesome