New browser wins over net surfers

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New browser wins over net surfers

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tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 04 5:19 pm Post subject: New browser wins over net surfers

The proportion of surfers using Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) has dropped to below 90%, say web analysts.

Net traffic monitor, OneStat.com, has reported that the open-source browser Firefox 1.0, released on 9 November, seems to be drawing users away from IE.

While IE's market share has dropped 5% since May to 88.9%, Mozilla browsers - including Firefox - have grown by 5%.

Firefox is made by the Mozilla Foundation which was set up by former browser maker Netscape in 1998.

Although there have been other preview versions of Firefox, version 1.0 was the first complete official program.

"It seems that people are switching from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to Mozilla's new Firefox browser," said Niels Brinkman, co-founder of Amsterdam-based OneStat.com.

Strong grip

Mozilla browsers - including Firefox 1.0 - now have 7.4% of the market share, the figures suggest. Mozilla said that more than five million have downloaded the free software since its official release.

Supporters of the open-source software in the US managed to raise $250,000 (�133,000) to advertise the release of Firefox 1.0 in The New York Times, and support the Mozilla Foundation.

There was a flurry of downloads on its first day of release.

MOST POPULAR BROWSERS
1 - Microsoft IE 6.0: 80.95%
2 - Microsoft IE 5.0: 4.18%
3 - Microsoft IE 5.5: 3.66%
4 - Mozilla Firefox 0.1: 2.79%
5 - Mozilla 1.x: 2.77%
6 - Mozilla Firefox 1.0: 1.79%
7 - Opera 7.x: 1.29%
Source: OneStat.com Nov 2004
The figures echo similar research from net analyst WebSideStory which suggested that IE had 92.9% of users in October compared to 95.5% in June.

Microsoft IE has dominated the browser market for some time after taking the crown from Netscape, and its share of users has always stayed at around the 95% mark.

Firefox is attractive to many because it is open-source. That means people are free to adapt the software's core code to create other innovative features, like add-ons or extensions to the program.

Fewer security holes have also been discovered so far in Firefox than in IE.

Paul Randle, Microsoft Windows Client product manager, responded to the figures: "We certainly respect that some customers will choose alternative browsers and that choosing a browser is about more than a handful of features.

"Microsoft continues to make significant investments in IE, including Service Pack 2 with advanced security technologies, and continues to encourage a vibrant ecosystem of third party add-ons for Internet Explorer."

Firefox wants to capture 10% of the market by the end of 2005. Other browser software, like Opera and Apple's Safari, are also challenging Microsoft's grip on the browser market. Opera is set to release its version 7.60 by the end of the year.

OneStat.com compiled the statistical measurements from two million net users in 100 countries.
Story from BBC NEWS:
https://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4037833.stm

Published: 2004/11/24 12:18:35 GMT

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 04 5:26 pm Post subject:
I certainly much prefer firefox, tabbed browsing rocks jema

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 04 5:36 pm Post subject:
Most people are locked into MS products, at least to some extent. For instance, because Mandy does a lot of work for school at home, and what do schools use...? So there will always be a percentage who want to stick it to the man in the small ways available to them. but I think you only need about 30% of a market to end up dominant, so Bill can probably sleep easy at the moment.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 04 5:39 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

Most people are locked into MS products, at least to some extent. For instance, because Mandy does a lot of work for school at home, and what do schools use...? So there will always be a percentage who want to stick it to the man in the small ways available to them. but I think you only need about 30% of a market to end up dominant, so Bill can probably sleep easy at the moment.

I get really peed off when the kids come home with homework that they have been told must be done in a Mickysoft product

jema

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 04 5:40 pm Post subject:
Yup I very much doubt that Mr Gates is worried, but FireFox is definitely superior. If it saved sessions like Opera does I'd be tempted to switch, still at least I don't have to use IE any more

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 11:50 am Post subject:
As a smug Mac user, I haven't touched IE for ages. It does piss me off when banks insist on IE, though; one reason why I stopped using one account online.

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