Firefox is most popular browser

December 21, 2009 | 13:55

Tags: #browser #firefox #ie #internet

Companies: #mozilla #mozilla-foundation

Firefox 3.5 has surpassed all others to become the single most popular web browser currently in use, according to figures released by analytics outfit StatCounter.

As reported over on The Next Web, Firefox 3.5 has finally overtaken Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 as the most widely used browser on the world wide web.

The world-wide figures show a trend which started in Germany back in March, when the Mozilla Foundation's popular open-source cross-platform browser beat all others - but now that is reflected world-wide. Although individual countries may be bucking the trend - with the US favouring Internet Explorer 8 with a 26 percent share of the market - overall Firefox 3.5 is a clear winner.

While the 3.5 version of Firefox is specifically the most popular browser, the figures change somewhat if you look at browser branding: Internet Explorer remains, by far, the most widely-used browser worldwide with a whopping 56 percent of the market. However, this figure is declining, having dropped from just over 65 percent at the start of the year.

Internet Explorer's loss is Firefox's gain, with Mozilla's browser having gone from a 27 percent share back in February to 32 percent of the market at the start of December - a steady nibbling of Microsoft's browser monopoly, despite some bumps along the way.

Other browsers remain in the minority, with Google's open-source Chrome browser remaining on top of the competition with a minuscule 5 percent market share - but still greater than Apple's Safari, which only manages 3.5 percent despite being the default browser on the company's computers, and Opera which remains at the bottom of the league with just 2 percent of the market.

Are you surprised to see something as bloated as Firefox take the lead, or is the flexibility offered by the wonderful extension support where the open-source browser really shines through? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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