Google Chrome’s Updater Beats All

A new study released by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Google Switzerland finds that Google Chrome’s updater (code-named Omaha) is far more effective at keeping its users up to date than the updaters in Firefox, Safari, and Opera.

97% of Google Chrome users surfing the net were found to have the latest version within three weeks after that version was released. In contrast 85% of Firefox users, 53% of Safari users, and 24% of Opera users were found to be using the latest version of their browser within 21 days of release.

Google Chrome automatically checks for updates every five hours and then installs them silently. Firefox updates whenever the browser starts up, but prompts the user to accept the new version. Safari updates via OSX’s Software Update feature, which updates either daily, weekly, or monthly. Opera requires their users to download a new installer every time a new version is released. Internet Explorer wasn’t tested, but like Safari it only updates however often the OS is set to update.

Now if you’re awake and had your coffee this morning you might be wondering: “If Chrome updates itself every 5 hours, how is it that the 3% of Chrome users don’t have an up to date browser three weeks after?” While Google Chrome checks for updates very often it does require the user to restart the browser in order for the new updates to take effect.

So what does all this mean for us end users? Long story short Google Chrome keeps you safer. All the security fixes in the world won’t help if your browser doesn’t have them installed, and Chrome’s system of frequent and silent updates ensures that the majority of its users are protected ASAP.

The full report can be viewed here.