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Firefox sets record with more than 8 million downloads on first day

3 July 2008 15:24 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 22 comments

Mozilla has officially announced the results of their world record attempt for the most softoware downloads in a 24 hour period and not surprisingly they've succeeded. Technically this only means at least 1 person downloaded Firefox 3 on its launch date, but the official tally is a slightly higher 8,002,530.

"As the arbiter and recorder of the world's amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla's achievement to our archives," said Gareth Deaves, Records Manager for Guinness World Records. "Mobilizing over 8 million internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication."

The real win for Mozilla has been the buzz generated over a new browser release. They still have a long way to go if they want to catch Microsoft in browser market share. Due in no small part to the world record promotion, Firefox 3 was downloaded around 5 times more on launch day than the previous release. It also beat Mozilla's stated goal of 5 million downloads by more than 50%.

"The enthusiasm and creativity of Firefox fans was instrumental in achieving this record," said Paul Kim, VP of Marketing at Mozilla. "Our community members came together and not only spread the word, but also took the initiative to help mobilize millions of people to demonstrate their belief that Firefox gives people the best possible online experience."

Permalink to this article

Firefox Mobile coming soon? (23 September 2008)

Firefox 3 gets off to a late start but hits the ground running (17 June 2008)

Mozilla tries to set world record with Firefox launch (12 June 2008)

Apple updates Safari browser, supports Windows (18 March 2008)

BBC adds Firefox support to the iPlayer (2 February 2008)

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hoddey (Member) 3 July 2008 15:31
im a record breaker ....RIP Roy Castle [ + quote]
chaos_zzz (Junior Member) 3 July 2008 15:45
i helped :) about 0.000000125% [ + quote]
SProdigy (Member) 3 July 2008 16:00
In for TWO! (Home and at work.) [ + quote]
poolpro (Member) 3 July 2008 16:29
I keep getting crashes when visiting IGN.com [ + quote]
philipman (Senior Member) 3 July 2008 17:11
I got it right away, firefox is a great program. Much better than IE [ + quote]
7thsinger (AfterDawn Addict) 3 July 2008 22:27
I also helped. Both my home pc's got updated. I'll take the Fox over IE any day. [ + quote]
nobrainer (Inactive) 4 July 2008 5:44
Firefox FTW open source all the way. Great extentions: NoScript http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722 Adblock Plus http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865 Adblock Plus Element Hiding Helper http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4364 BugMeNot http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6349 Dictionary Tooltip http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1171 Download Statusbar http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26 Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2410 Piclens http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5579 Cooliris Previews http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2207 Undo Closed Tabs Button http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3082 Youplayer http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5709 all links are https:// so remember to put the "s" (secure encrypted) back in the url bar after you are directed from afterdawn. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4 July 2008 5:47
simpsim1 (Member) 4 July 2008 7:13
Also good are chatzilla http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16 and DownThemAll http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201 FF3 the best for privacy settings too. Keeps the nosey beeks out of my browsing habits lol. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4 July 2008 7:14
taku (Junior Member) 4 July 2008 15:19
open source rocks!! thank god there's FF my name is taku.. im firefox addict.. been using it for years and planning to use it many years to come :) propably the best web browser around nowdays! thou i use opera and konquer sometimes but still FFis the Nro:1 also worth testing are Gmail manager http://addons.mozilla.org/fi/firefox/addon/1320 Tab Mix Plus http://tmp.garyr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7031 [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4 July 2008 15:26
wetsparks (Member) 4 July 2008 17:32
I like the accuweather mod for firefox. I never watch the news so this is how I find out what the weather is going to be like for the next couple days (or as close as it can be guessed since I have seen it snow in July before). [ + quote]
pmshah (Newbie) 6 July 2008 0:11
I too downloaded it on the prescribed day - twice on 2 diferent machines at 2 different locations. Although I found it to be quite am improvement - with add-0ns for backing up extensions, favorites & passwords - I have now been forced to start using IE also for one simple reason. IDM's plugin is broken and is blacklisted by default. Ir worked flawlessly with the 2.0.0.xx version. I could still do it by the process of copy link -> add URL - but it is too mush of a hassle and it leaves out the referrer details. I hope and pray that they - Mozilla & IDM sort out the problems & make the plugin available at the earliest. [ + quote]
c1c (Member) 7 July 2008 12:00
I haven't installed it yet because I fear that I will lose all my bookmarks and stuff. [ + quote]
goodswipe (Inactive) 7 July 2008 12:11
This comes as no surprise to me, FF is 100 times better then IE. *Originally posted by c1c:* I haven't installed it yet because I fear that I will lose all my bookmarks and stuff. You wont loose all your bookmarks, go ahead and install. "I hope Newbies that come across your signature bar do not become intimated and decide this forum is for wisecracks and stick to other ones." -ofield [ + quote]
pmshah (Newbie) 8 July 2008 4:10
*Originally posted by c1c:* I haven't installed it yet because I fear that I will lose all my bookmarks and stuff. First of all you won't lose your bookmarks when you upgrade. There is a new addon calles "Foxmarks" which saves your bookmarks PERFECTLY. In fact it will also allow you to synch these on several different PCs at different locations so long as you have internet connectivity. [ + quote]
dablur (Newbie) 8 July 2008 7:00
Too bad it sucks and is really buggy. I was really rooting for FF3... but because it was crashing like 20 times a day on me, especially while downloading a lot of stuff, or having a lot of tabs open (the worst time to crash).. and i was missing a bunch of my bookmarks, luckily i backed them up anyways right before i installed it. I have reverted back to FF2 until they fix ff3 up some more congrats for the record and all tho... :[ [ + quote]
varnull (AfterDawn Addict) 8 July 2008 8:11
dablur Are you sure it's firefox playing up and not your ram going bad. Try starting it in safe mode, or with strace to see why it is crashing. If it segfaults that's more a sign of a hardware fault than an actual problem with the program. I learned that from experience where the only program causing problems was the fox, just quitting silently with no error message. That said I haven't upgraded because I'm waiting for lots of plugins which I use being updated. Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. Get off my beach before I burn down your village! [ + quote]
goodswipe (Inactive) 8 July 2008 11:14
*Originally posted by dablur:* Too bad it sucks and is really buggy. I was really rooting for FF3... but because it was crashing like 20 times a day on me, especially while downloading a lot of stuff, or having a lot of tabs open (the worst time to crash).. and i was missing a bunch of my bookmarks, luckily i backed them up anyways right before i installed it. I have reverted back to FF2 until they fix ff3 up some more congrats for the record and all tho... :[ Yea, sounds HW related or else you have to much granny pron downloaded with 1000 instances of spyware running in the background. I've had it for several days now and have yet to have any problems. "I hope Newbies that come across your signature bar do not become intimated and decide this forum is for wisecracks and stick to other ones." -ofield [ + quote]
7thsinger (AfterDawn Addict) 8 July 2008 11:27
I have not had any issues with it thus far either. *touches wood. Learn To Backup DVDs Here And Here. [ + quote]
goodswipe (Inactive) 8 July 2008 11:37
*Originally posted by 7thsinger:* I have not had any issues with it thus far either. touches wood. I'd knock on wood if I were you. You might have a bit more luck, because I've heard touching it doesn't do much. HUH-HUHUHU-EHEHUHUHEHEH, you said wood... "I hope Newbies that come across your signature bar do not become intimated and decide this forum is for wisecracks and stick to other ones." -ofield [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 8 July 2008 11:38*
nobrainer (Inactive) 8 July 2008 11:55
*Originally posted by goodswipe:* Yea, sounds HW related or else you have to much granny pron downloaded with 1000 instances of spyware running in the background. I've had it for several days now and have yet to have any problems. same here, other than a couple of slow downs that were caused by conflicts with the add-ons i use and sun java. but as a whole the browser is fine. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. [ + quote]
7thsinger (AfterDawn Addict) 8 July 2008 12:13
*Originally posted by goodswipe:* *Originally posted by 7thsinger:* I have not had any issues with it thus far either. *touches wood. I'd knock on wood if I were you. You might have a bit more luck, because I've heard touching it doesn't do much. HUH-HUHUHU-EHEHUHUHEHEH, you said wood... Yeah...hehehe...hehehehe...i said WOOD. On a more serious note; at this point i have no complaints about FF3. Learn To Backup DVDs Here And Here. [ + quote]
SuperXL (Member) 12 July 2008 20:07
the only issue i've seen with FF3 is that it doesnt work with some online class stuff i've seen. i kinda checked it out with FF2, but since i'm not in online classes i dont care. but my clients might. i've downloaded it and installed it on a bunch of computers, but havent used it for myself yet. i'll eventually upgrade from 2.x.x.x to 3.x.x.x or whatever. [ + quote]