Firefox Officially Retired – Long Live Google Chrome!
Yes, I was sceptical such that such a thing could happen. Sure, Firefox wasn't stellar in performance, but I put up with it. Javascript can't be fast. Firefox loads up slow because I've got a tonne of add-ons installed and dozens of tabs open (literally). And font rendering sucks because web developers chose to use non-standard fonts. But more importantly, Firefox, in my books, is better than Opera (because of the add-ons), IE for Windows (because it's secure) and any other browser on Linux (they're just unpolished).
Then came Chromium (or Google Chrome). I ignored it from v1 to v3. Then I tried it on Linux and I've been using it for months, the Linux nightly builds. It's stable enough for extended use, having only crashed once or twice loading Flash. And now it has graduated to Beta, with extensions. I bet soon users will realize how fast a browser can be. It's just amazing. When you're on the web 8-hours a day due to work, 10 seconds here and there adds up!
The first hint of performance issues with Firefox was with Google Wave (I still have 25 invites). And Facebook. And Google Docs... Oh well, you get the idea. Most Javascript-laden site would perform just average or below average on Firefox, but totally flew once Chrome is used. And the start-up time is just stellar! Firing up the browser with dozens of tabs open no longer needed a trip to the pantry for coffee!
If you're not on Google Chrome yet, try it. You might just be surprised (as I was). Then get some extensions.