[jballanc]

Browsers are interesting beasts. Sure, you can compete on speed and compatibility with both standards and existing sites, but only to a point. Once you reach that point, then what? Most of the interaction you will have with a browser is outside the control of the browser (i.e. the code of the sites you visit, ultimately, accounts for 95% of your interaction with a browser).

I've found that browsers have become a study in small touches and interesting niches. Firefox, for a long time, had a lock on the "I want to mod the hell out of this" niche. Meanwhile, as trite as it sounds, I couldn't leave Safari for the longest time because I had become addicted to the address bar also showing load progress.

These days, I use Chrome, but not because of speed. I use Chrome because I have become addicted to OpenSearch (the "Press tab to search this site"). Apple's refusal to merge the address bar and search bar used to be forgivable, but it is increasingly becoming a pointless distinction to hold out on (and will cost them market share).