Internet Explorer bounces back

IE9 has already met with a positive reaction, according to Microsoft

Microsoft received a shot in the arm after the latest global figures showed its flagship Internet Explorer browser began to claw back serious market share from arch rival Firefox for the first time in over a year.

The new stats from analytics firm Net Applications show IE with a share of 60.32 per cent in June, up from 59.75 per cent the previous month. By comparison, Firefox experienced a second successive drop, from 24.32 per cent to 23.81 per cent.

Chrome and Safari also rose slightly, the former jumping 0.20 per cent to 7.24 per cent and the latter from 4.77 per cent to 4.85 per cent.

Ryan Gavin, senior director of the Internet Explorer business and marketing team, was quick to publicise the figures on the IE blog.

He argued that they show customers are choosing the Microsoft browser despite recent EU-mandated anti-trust changes, which saw users in the region presented with a ballot screen designed to offer greater choice of browser.

“As the Net App share results demonstrate, IE usage share gained 0.88 per cent just in Europe this month, as customers continue to choose IE8 above the alternatives,” he added.

“We certainly don’t judge our business on just two months of data, but the direction here is encouraging.”

Gavin also pointed to a positive reception for the upcoming IE9 browser, which he claimed has been downloaded in a Platform Preview more than two million times already.