Google Chrome is currently the most widely used web browser for surfing the web. Some of the reasons why it has become the most widely used browser are obvious, while others are less so. Forced to spread on Android, a bit like Internet Explorer on Windows, it has made its way to the other platforms thanks to its simplicity and compatibility with most websites, but privacy is an increasingly important weakness for Chrome. One of its direct competitors, Mozilla Firefox, in addition to paying particular attention to user privacy, has recently made great efforts to improve key aspects in which Chrome has excelled for some years now:

  • On "paper", the current version 89.0.2 of FireFox is still a little slower than Chrome, but the system resources in terms of RAM and CPU used for browsing are on average lower, and it should be noted that the user's perception of performance is almost a negligible factor, since browsing is smooth even on the RaspBerry Pi400, although the test results say otherwise.
    • All Web browsers used display FHD (1920 x 1080) on Desktop PC based on i3-9100 @ 3.6Ghz
    • Higher value = Better performance
    • Tests performed: JetStream2, MotionMark 1.2, Speedometer2.0
      • Mozilla Firefox (89.0.2 64bit) - JetStream2 = 86.000
      • Mozilla Firefox (89.0.2 64bit) - MotionMark 1.2 = 247.16
      • Mozilla Firefox (89.0.2 64bit) - Speedometer2.0 = 111
      • Google Chrome (91.0.4472.124 64bit) - JetStream2 = 126.561
      • Google Chrome (91.0.4472.124 64bit) - MotionMark 1.2 = 554.99
      • Google Chrome (91.0.4472.124 64bit) - Speedometer2.0 = 140
    • Tests carried out with FHD screen on RaspBerry Pi400 with Manjaro Linux distribution (AmiKit distribution)
      • Mozilla Firefox (89.0.1 64bit) - JetStream2 = 16.657
      • Mozilla Firefox (89.0.1 64bit) - MotionMark 1.2 = 3.64
      • Mozilla Firefox (89.0.1 64bit) - Speedometer2.0 = 14.5
      • Google Chrome (Chromium 91.0.4472) - JetStream2 = 29.129
      • Google Chrome (Chromium 91.0.4472) - MotionMark 1.2 = 10.39
      • Google Chrome (Chromium 91.0.4472) - Speedometer2.0 = 15
  • Firfox compared to Chrome can boast a better and immediate customization of the graphical interface, being able to freely customize both the toolbar and every other element of the panel being able to place them where it is more comfortable without of course the use of any extension.
  • Improved integrated privacy support in general without the use of extensions compared to Chrome
  • In the mobile version directly integrates the QR Code reader, absent in Chrome Mobile
  • Allows you to always see the address of the site you visit in its original form, i.e. including the www extension, unlike on Chrome
  • Firefox natively integrates the functionality of advanced screen capture so it does not require any plug in or extension

Chrome obviously also has its strengths, such as better performance and multi-user synchronisation profile management, but if you want to keep navigation data and lots of telemetry off Big G's servers, FireFox is an excellent alternative.