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15 Aug 2005
Newly published figures released by web monitoring firm NetApplications show that Microsoft pulled back market share from rival browser users last month.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer was used by 87.2 per cent of website visitors in July, up from 86.56 per cent in June. Firefox, the second most popular browser, saw its share slip slightly from its high point of 8.71 per cent last month to 8.07 per cent in July.
"Mozilla recently created a for-profit division just in time to see its FireFox browser drop 0.7 per cent in 30 days," noted Dan Shapero, chief operating officer at NetApplications.
"Microsoft's Internet Explorer actually gained ground at the expense of FireFox recent stride. At 8.07 per cent, FireFox is still flirting with Mass Appeal, so August should be an interesting and telling month."
The organisation set up to spread interest in Firefox reported on Sunday that FireFox had now been downloaded 80 million times.
The two browsers account for over 95 per cent of the all the browsers used to access web content. Apple's Safari browser was the third most popular software, with 2.1% of the market.
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Do you agree?
life is too short....
...to spend it arguing about minute differences between browsers! But then, where would we be if some people didn't have pokadot shorts to choose from? The best browser is the one that gets out of the way of my view of the web. It is hard for browser geeks to see the web for the tool bars!
Posted by: KarlQuick 22 Aug 2005
Love Firefox
I agree that Firefox is the way to go. I have has much more success and faster download time with FF. I hope it does catch on.
Posted by: SMC 16 Aug 2005
Humbug
When you compare raw firefox with raw IE, I would agree that IE is stronger. But when you master the Plug-ins for Firefox, FireFox blows IE out of the water. Its just oh so much more powerful, customisable. For example, Surfing without advertising using adblock, and greasemonkey customised web pages.
Posted by: Joe AU 16 Aug 2005
opera
I like opera browser more than firefox and ie.
Posted by: aaaaaaaaaaa 16 Aug 2005
Keep the losers off FireFox
Sounds strange and mostly, selfish... but the more goofs that begin to user FireFox, the more goofs that will begin writing malicious garbage for it. So far, as mentioned above, the "above average" users seem to be hopping on the FireFox bandwagon... really a good sign. The losers can keep IE and ignore securty alerts. Somethings will never change.
Posted by: GentileGuy 16 Aug 2005
Pete's right
I agree Pete, most people don't know enough to realize there ARE other internet browsers out there. I didn't even realize it until I heard about Mozilla! Firefox. I knew that Netscape and IE had its browser wars a while back, but after Netscape disappeared from the mainstream landscape, I never heard of any other browsers again. However, I am now an avid user of Firefox, I am a tabbed browser lover, and Firefox's popup blocker is lovely. There is nothing wrong with being a strong contender because it keeps you on your toes (not only that, not being #1, there are very little viruses/spyware written targeted for the browser you use).
Posted by: Henry 16 Aug 2005
Maxthon
I use Maxthon which uses the ie engine but has tabbed browsing. The first time I opened firefox it cut of all my other internet connections such as my gmail notifier etc because it changed the proxy settings.
Posted by: Timothy 16 Aug 2005
Doesn't matter Microsoft has sealed their grave
Regardless of whether IE 7 got a point back or not, Microsoft blatant anti-customer stance of product activation, and Genuine downloads will (if it hasn't already) turn users sour, when they cannot install software they legally purchased because Microsoft has a new version out, and refuses to activate the "no longer supported" version.
Posted by: Guest 16 Aug 2005
It is not True
Firefox is the Best... I vote for Firefox Thumbs Down to IE..
Posted by: Jag 16 Aug 2005
Microsoft's IE pulls further ahead of Firefox
I am waiting to see if this new browser that MS is writing right now is going to be standards compliant. From what Im thinking, its not going to happen since MS have been crippling the web standards for so long. I have a feeling that if IE 7 isnt fixed to meet these standards, its all a matter of time until the pendulum swings in favor of Firefox to more of a 40 or even 60 % of the marketshare. I personally feel that the vendor should start installing Firefox on all their new systems like MS has been doing for years and only then will the playing field be evened out.
Posted by: Matt 16 Aug 2005
One word: UPDATES
The FireFox flurry was partially due to reports of flaws in IE security that pushed large numbers to FF. Unfortunately, security flaws in FF have also been discovered and some reality set in: all software is flawed and the only hope is fast UPDATES when the flaws are discovered. No one with a life has time to deal with manual updates at the rate flaws are found in ALL heavily used software. Recommendation: XP SP2, turn on auto update, use broadband connections to allow quick and frequent updates, and use two levels of firewall (one in your home router and the other being built-in XP firewall, turned on by default by SP2.) I use IE because it gets out of the way of the content better than any other browser. Hit F-11, turn off status bar, turn oh auto hide, and IE gets totally out of the way ...unless a popup trys to rear its ugly head.... I turn on IE(SP2)'s strict pop-up blocking and set it to be silent about doing it's job.
Posted by: CWFlink 15 Aug 2005
Too bad
It's too bad that Firefox is slipping. I hope they catch on. I guess people don't realize how much better Firefox is than IE to justify a few-minute download (on dialup). I hope Mozilla Corporation has plans for bringing Firefox into mainstream.
Posted by: Yasha 15 Aug 2005
Firefox
People who use Firefox are likely to be more saavy about removing/avoiding the spyware used to generate these studies.
Posted by: G 15 Aug 2005
Statistically Insignificant
With IE automatically installed on every new computer, market share will fluctuate. Users have to go out and find Firefox. Most people will not do that unless a more tech-savy person helps them. As long as they can get on the net, that is all they care about.
Posted by: Pete 15 Aug 2005
Not the whole story
Software download counts may not indicate the whole story in estimating browser user percentages. Many users such as I download once and then deploy the software on multiple machines in a home or business network. If one counts installations instead of downloads, Firefox's share may be several multiples of 8%.
Posted by: Andrew P. 15 Aug 2005
Reasons?
Yeah, not to mention that students make up a large part of its base and when they unpack their computers for september expect the number to jump. This would be bigger news if IE 7 had just come out..
Posted by: Sid 32 15 Aug 2005
Agent switcher extension in Firefox
If I use Firefox and Agent switcher running as IE then who gets counted for browser use?
Posted by: Gary 15 Aug 2005
Firefox is found out
I think people are finding that firefox is just hype. It takes longer to start which is a disapointment as it is advertised as being faster.
Posted by: tony 15 Aug 2005
IE still most compatible
hey, i love firefox too. In fact i have it installed in all my computers. But, after not being able some websites properly (sites that IE only can handle), i'm back with IE. Firefox is cool and uncluttered, but TIME is MONEY. IE is ok as long as you keep it updated. I honestly don't know why people are jumping ship, like me i guess. Firefox isn't that almightly secure either.
Posted by: John Malcom 15 Aug 2005
IE will gain more with introduction of Vista
I think when Windows Vista and the new version of IE are released, the percentage will climb of browser usage. What Beta 1 does sport is tabbed browsing, a long-overdue feature that lets you open several web pages without cluttering the computer desktop with separate windows. A real-time anti-phishing tool was built to address scammers who try to trick people into revealing passwords by posing as legitimate banking or e-commerce site. When IE 7 encounters an unfamiliar site, it gives users the option of passing that address to Microsoft to check against a database of known phishing sites. When there's a match, IE 7 takes you to a "red" warning page. The browser adds a feature for instantly deleting private data - "cookie" files, browsing history, passwords and the like - though the tool doesn't offer as much flexibility as Opera's in choosing which data to toss. Joey Bee www.joeybee.blogspot.com
Posted by: Joey Bee 15 Aug 2005
Unfair Disadvantage...
People are forced to use Internet Explorer to download updates and security patches from Microsoft's Windows Update website. Imagine all of the extra traffic generated by this, considering Windows' dominant market share... curious how this factors into the study's equation.
Posted by: Foxaholic 15 Aug 2005
Firefox gained 2 points, passed IE5.x in july
According to TheCounter. TheCounter.com for June: http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2005/June/browser.php TheCounter.com for July: http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2005/July/browser.php Web site stats services are (probably) indicative of broad trends in the overall web audience, but little more. All we can tell from this is that Mozilla-based browsers are probably close to 10% of the 'general' audience and growing slowly, IE 5 is probably less than that and shrinking somewhat, and IE 6 usage is roughly static.
Posted by: setmajer 15 Aug 2005