Bad news for the little browser that could: not only is Firefox no longer a "little browser" but it is increasingly having trouble competing. Back in 2009, Firefox was on the rise. But now, not only is Chrome eating its lunch but Firefox's user share is actually slipping.
Netmarketshare provides the data and
SJVN provides the analysis/funeral rites. He suggests:
For Firefox to remain a web browser power, it needs to make big improvements and it needs to make them now. Otherwise, Firefox may yet follow its predecessor Netscape into the web's past.
[ed. note: as a steadfast Opera user since 2000, this is all fascinating. Opera seems pegged-for-life at 3%]
Here's the thing -- even with its included e-mail and HTML editor features it's often SMALLER in footprint than Firefox or Firefox + Thunderbird! (One of many reasons I've always disliked Firefox; it's a wasteful bloated piece of software compared to the regular old suite.)
Even if you choose to use something else for e-mail, the overall resource hit/waste is minimal to non-existent. I think you can also omit the e-mail components if you really want.
All that said, I'm thinking of moving on from Seamonkey, 'cause it still has Mozilla's problems. But I don't like Chromium/Chrome, and Opera's not open source. So I just don't know.