The New Browser Saga

Article from Issue 239/2020

Author(s): Joe Casad , Author(s): Editor in Chief

Dear Reader,

On August 11, Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker announced a "significant restructuring" of the Mozilla Corporation. Mozilla is best known for its flagship product, the Firefox web browser. The restructuring is said to include significant staff reductions – the second layoffs of the year. Baker's announcement points to the pandemic as a factor in the need for a new start, but commentators wonder if other reasons are behind the change.

When Firefox appeared on the scene in 2004, it was exciting and different – and way better than the Internet Explorer browser, which Microsoft was trying to force feed to the world. Since then, the competition has gotten much better. Chrome has stolen some thunder from Firefox, becoming not just the leading Microsoft alternative, but the leading browser in the world, and even Microsoft has cleaned up its act and cleaned up its code, finally putting ultra-clunky Internet Explorer to rest in favor of the Edge browser.

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