IE loses almost 3% of its marketshare since June

[shadowdude]

Internet Explorer (IE) browser is slowly losing market share, according to a recent report from WebSideStory, a Web analytics Latest News about Analytics provider.

The company found that the percentage of Mozilla and Firefox browser adoption has increased among U.S. computer users.

IE use dropped to 92.9 percent among browsers as of the end of October, marking a decline of 0.8 percentage points since WebSideStory's last report in early September.

IE's slight market loss shows a continued steady decline for the browser's use. In June, IE had 95.5 percent market share, according to WebSideStory.

Getting Foxy

Although there are numerous alternatives to IE, Firefox seems to have the most traction. As a nod to the browser's growing popularity, WebSideStory reported on its market share for the first time in its recent report, citing a 3 percent toehold for Firefox.

A product of the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox has become something of a darling to the alternate-browser crowd. But it might not be a well-kept secret among them for long.

A group called Spread Firefox has been aggressively promoting the browser with help from company donors and "community champions." After a donation-outreach effort with Mozilla, the organization has raised $250,000 for promotional campaigns, and will soon be placing an ad in the New York Times to tout the browser's benefits.

King of the Hill

Despite the minor loss of market share, Microsoft will continue to dominate the browser world for some time, many analysts believe.

Although the early days of public Web use sparked browser wars, Yankee Group analyst Tony White told NewsFactor, "There were battles, but Microsoft won. And it's still the winner."

Even a browser that has an aggressive campaign will find it difficult to break Microsoft's lock, White noted. Safari and Opera browsers, heavily pushed by Apple Latest News about Apple and Opera Software, still only reach about 1 percent of the market, according to WebSideStory.

Microsoft is expected to unveil additional IE developments in the future, White pointed out, and those may bring back the slight market share that it has lost.

"The people who love Firefox are very vocal and determined, but that doesn't change the fact that IE dominates the market," White said.

IE's marketshare has been slowly dropping for a while, but not by almost 3% in just a few months. Firefox appears to be making a small dent in Microsoft's browser dominance.

 

[Simo]

Could you tell me what firefox does that I cant do with IE?? I have used IE and so far can get around the net just fine. Why would I swap? (p.s. I am not one of those microsoft is evil and must be destroyed type paranoid person, so a reason other than that!)

 

[Plexus]

Tabbed browsing, adblocking, browser extentions, bookmark keywords, quicksearching, themes, etc.

 

[Comraddict]

Firefox DOES not support active X- it is best thing!

BTW I am using plain Mozilla ( 1.7.3. that is)

 

[Turner]

Tabbed browsing, adblocking, browser extentions, bookmark keywords, quicksearching, themes, etc.

I get all that and ActiveX with AvantBrowser or Slimbrowser. There are a lot of IE Core browsers out there that have all those features.

Now, I'm not saying one is better than another....to each their own. But I've used Netscape, I've used IE & Clones, and I've used Mozilla/Firefox. After all is said and done I prefer IE & Clones. And I do use Firefox regularly.

 

[lord_yoshi]

Tabbed browsing, adblocking (As in banners, images, popups, scripts, embeds...), browser extensions, bookmark keywords, quicksearching, themes, developer bar, weather report, winamp control, google notifier, STYLESHEET SWITCHER, News feed, chat, download all links, remove object, mouse gestures, download toolbar, open source, OVER 200 SEARCH ENGINES INTEGRATED...

 

[DreadCthulhu]

Internet Explorer has had many security problems recently. Merely visiting a bad site can get you infected. Firefox has had a security issue or two as well, but those are patched within a day or so, much faster than Microsoft is with their updates.

 

[Padma]

The *real* reason for not using IE/clones is the security problems found in the IE engine. IF you have XP/SP2, I believe those are fixed, but if you are running enything else ....

 

[Turner]

I'm not in a rush to upgrade. Why? Been using IE all this time, and I've had ZERO problems. I keep my host file updated, I use spybot/adaware/spyware blaster regularly, I'm picky about cookies I allow on my machine. I've yet to encounter a problem with IE.

Perhaps it's just the sites I go to, but I haven't had any issues with browsing while using IE.

 

[Sanaz]

I'm not in a rush to upgrade. Why? Been using IE all this time, and I've had ZERO problems. I keep my host file updated, I use spybot/adaware/spyware blaster regularly, I'm picky about cookies I allow on my machine. I've yet to encounter a problem with IE.

Perhaps it's just the sites I go to, but I haven't had any issues with browsing while using IE.

It sounds like you pay attention, and do the "right" things. Mozilla/Firefox can be better choices for those who don't want to bother, but still want the increased security. Microsoft is funny like that - they really do make excellent software, but they try to be everything for everyone and make some "interesting" security decisions to to this.

 

[Turner]

Well, when the customer is paying your bills, you tend to try and cater to them. What you say makes a lot of sense.

And truth to tell, we have Netscape, Mozilla and Opera to thank for making MS build a better product. When you have a monopoly, it's easy to get lax and not care what kind of product gets shipped out. MS still has a long way to go, IMHO, but they are also trying to please too many people at once, like you said.

If Unix/linux could make a serious push to get into the home computing market, it would go a long way towards making MS a leaner, better product. As I write this, I keep thinking of the early japanese imported cars. Not the best, but it gave a real alternative to american cars and forced Dodge, GM and Ford to adapt to the new marketplace.

But I digress....

 

[Comraddict]

Come on, Mozilla does better job with much less resources. Microsoft needs to be punished. I'm not MS hater or anything, monopoly is never good.

 

[steviejay]

I'd recommend Opera. For some reason I just like it, I was using it to test a website and it grew on me. I now use IE only in college where its obviously the primary browser, but if I had Opera installed I'd use that without thinking.

 

[Volum]

Opera is Norwegian

Anyways, if this wasnt the family computer i would probably change, but i know my dad is going to start whining. He dosnt like to change things, but still he manages to do stupid things. Like the time he got a POPUP saying he might have spyware, so he downloaded their program.

 

[steviejay]

my girlfriend does that, and I need to go round every few months to reinstall windows cause "its acting funny"

 

[hbdragon88]

Firefox DOES not support active X- it is best thing!

BTW I am using plain Mozilla ( 1.7.3. that is)

Bah. Just because ActiveX has been abused by spyware companies doesn't mean it's useless. Tell me, can you use PCPistop's tests, Crucial's RAM checker, or use Symantec's online virus checke using Firefox/Opera? (I know PCPitStop has its Neptune plugin, but that's beside the point).

 

[Smash]

The problem with IE in XP is it is too intregal a part of the OS.

You are asking for trouble using this browser as your mainstay.

MS made a big mistake here.They know it,but it was too late.So we get one vulnerability after another.No end in sight.