Internet Explorer Use Still Falling, Firefox on the Rise
Elizabeth Millard, www.enterprise-linux-it.com
The Internet Explorer browser continues to lose market share, while
open-source darling Firefox still is attracting users.
IE now commands around 90 percent of the market, according to Web
analytics company WebSideStory, which puts the browser's share at 90.3
percent. Firefox now has a 5 percent slice.
Although Firefox's share might seem puny in comparison to IE, its rate
of growth has been notable. Estimates put its current download rate at
almost 20 million, and its companion e-mail client, Thunderbird,
passed the 2 million download mark at the end of its first month of
availability.
Grassroots Effort
One of the main factors for Firefox's success has been word-of-mouth
recommendations among users and a number of excellent reviews in the
media.
In mid-December, the Mozilla Foundation, creator of Firefox, placed a
two-page ad in the New York Times that raised the browser's visibility
in the mass market.
The ad featured the names of thousands of people worldwide who
contributed to the fundraising campaign to support the launch of the
browser.
After the ad ran, German and Dutch Firefox supporters followed suit,
funding ads in newspapers in those countries.
Continuing Trend
The ongoing popularity of Firefox is not surprising, said Niels
Brinkman, co-founder of Dutch market research firm OneStat.com.
The firm also has reported that IE use is steadily falling, and
Brinkman told NewsFactor that the decline is expected to continue.
"Firefox has gotten much attention over the past few months, and that
has brought success," he said. "As more people use the browser and
like it, they'll tell others, and the downloads will continue."
Security Force
It is likely that IE use also is falling because of security concerns.
Since it is the most-used browser, IE is a prime target for attackers.
Several vulnerabilities recently have been reported in IE 6.0, which
prompted Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) to issue patches.
The company also has admonished some security researchers for unfairly
characterizing IE as less secure than other browsers. However, calling
reports "misleading and inaccurate" probably will not be enough for
Microsoft to change public perception.
"People think of Firefox as more secure, and many of them switch to
the browser for just that reason," said Brinkman.
-- Steven Buehler | swbuehler@gmail.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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