IE under 70 percent, Firefox above 20 percent

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

oh look who wrote the article hehe. Safari part is increasing.. :)

[NienorGT]

More and more IE will loose shares, more and more MSFT will make it better.

Remember IE6, they didn't care about it because it was just too strong on the market.

Once they saw others getting stronger, they make a real HUGE step with IE7.

[Andre S. Veteran]

IE wins because it has "Internet" in the name and comes as the default browser on most machines. That's a huge advantage considering a lot of users are incredibly clueless about computers and the web. A lot people call Internet Explorer simply "Internet" and cannot conceive that you can browse the web with some other program. In fact, I don't think they can clearly make the difference between a "program" and the "web".

Other browsers can improve all they want, like it or not, IE's dominance is here to stay.

[Nagisan]

kind of interesting to see chrome beating out opera, which has been around a while in comparison...

Similar to Vista, Opera never really caught on when it was released, it basically sucked back then. Due to that, it is not very popular now (similar to Vista) despite being the best browser around. :p

and chrome is very new while opera has been around for a little while so that shows that google chrome is growing way faster so opera will be gone soon enough.

I would gladly switch to Chrome (from Opera) if chrome was as good as Opera......as it stands, its roughly the same speed, but opera has tons more features. If chrome had a built-in email client that supports POP or IMAP, as well as mouse gestures and something similar to Opera's "Wand", I would probably switch, but seeing as it doesnt, I would pick Opera over chrome any day.

I doubt Opera will be gone anytime soon, they have been around since before most of the browsers in the list, yet, with such a small market share, they continue to stay in the game and continue to have (IMO) the best browser.

[NienorGT]

IE wins because it has "Internet" in the name and comes as the default browser on most machines. That's a huge advantage considering a lot of users are incredibly clueless about computers and the web. A lot people call Internet Explorer simply "Internet" and cannot conceive that you can browse the web with some other program. In fact, I don't think they can clearly make the difference between a "program" and the "web".

Other browsers can improve all they want, like it or not, IE's dominance is here to stay.

That's definitively true! that's why I'm saying what I said. Microsoft Windows hold around 90% and the majority of users are not going to change for other browsers.

[x-byte]

It's always sad to see Opera so low. Been using it since 2003 and never looked back. I hope Opera 10 will increase it, but I doubt it.

Include a basic wizard that runs through an option install:

- Click to Install Firefox

- Click to Install Google Chrome

- Click to Install Opera

Easy as that! Or include the option during install when Windows is being installed.

People don't want that. There is a reason Windows is as popular as it is. Most user doesn't want to run a installation when they want to do something. The stupid EU crap about removing Windows Media Player is just stupid. No one wants a crippled version of Windows. Maybe the tech savvy yes, but not most users.

[Krome]

IE wins because it has "Internet" in the name and comes as the default browser on most machines. That's a huge advantage considering a lot of users are incredibly clueless about computers and the web. A lot people call Internet Explorer simply "Internet" and cannot conceive that you can browse the web with some other program. In fact, I don't think they can clearly make the difference between a "program" and the "web".

Other browsers can improve all they want, like it or not, IE's dominance is here to stay.

I find your statement very interesting. I too believe that most novice computer users do understand the word "Internet" more than other applications. Yeah I do think some people do not know what a "web browser" is. Those that are able to know what a "web browser" means will eventually get to know other browsers in that process. So having the word "Internet" as part of their browser name really help push IE's fame.

It's always sad to see Opera so low. Been using it since 2003 and never looked back. I hope Opera 10 will increase it, but I doubt it.

People don't want that. There is a reason Windows is as popular as it is. Most user doesn't want to run a installation when they want to do something. The stupid EU crap about removing Windows Media Player is just stupid. No one wants a crippled version of Windows. Maybe the tech savvy yes, but not most users.

A NOVICE computer users DO NOT KNOW HOW TO install the OS in the first place! So if Windows allows which choice of browser is installed, I don't think IE would have been the default choice for those that knows how to install the OS.

[x-byte]

A NOVICE computer users DO NOT KNOW HOW TO install the OS in the first place! So if Windows allows which choice of browser is installed, I don't think IE would have been the default choice for those that knows how to install the OS.

That might be true, but that wasn't the point.

[toadeater]

More and more IE will loose shares, more and more MSFT will make it better.

Remember IE6, they didn't care about it because it was just too strong on the market.

Once they saw others getting stronger, they make a real HUGE step with IE7.

A large part of Firefox's appeal is not just performance and stability, but the plugins and customization options. Unless MS opens up IE the same way, IE will continue to lose marketshare. I can't get by without my Firefox plugins anymore. I can't look at a webpage without Adblock, Greasemonkey, and various other tools for searching or info management. Firefox is like the MS Office of the web browsers, while IE is still just a primitive browser that's a magnet for ads and spam. It's not even faster than Firefox anymore, so why bother unless your boss makes you use it?

On top of all this, Firefox can be used in a portable mode, if you don't want to install anything, or just have your settings without you where you go. MS just doesn't seem to understand that people don't want Steve Ballmer's nose in their business all the time.

[shakey_snake]

Asa Doltzer, commonly thought of as Mozilla's official troll, has an interesting take on all of this:

http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archive...t_share_by.html

...

Clearly IE is falling, and at a pretty good clip. Does this mean that the browser wars have really heated up again with half a dozen exciting and capable browsers all duking it out for the top spot? That's sure what it sounds like if you read the tech pundits, bloggers, and journalists. The storyline that seems to be central to all the reporting and discussion of the competitive landscape is that it's totally thriving with IE releasing new versions much more frequently but still losing ground to Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and a handful of other challengers.

For a web developer, this makes perfect sense. People building web sites and web applications are looking at all the browsers hitting their properties and writing and optimizing for the top user agents they're seeing in their logs.

For bloggers, pundits, and journalists, the browser makers are pushing out new alphas and betas at such an amazing pace it feels like it's almost a daily event. Add to that the blow by blow coverage of the awesome battle for performance supremacy and Web standards support, and you've got a real hotbed of excitement.

But for regular people, I don't think any of this is registering at all. For most regular people, there are just two browsers, the one that came on their machine and Firefox.

What does this look like. Well, if you're on Windows, there's Internet Explorer (the default that came with your PC) and there's Firefox. If you're on Mac, there's Safari (the default that came with your Mac) and there's Firefox. One default and one alternative.

That's not exactly an exciting, vibrant, and red-hot marketplace. Now, that's a whole lot better than it was just four or five years ago when there was really only one browser and that browser was completely stagnant. But when you look at this from the viewpoint of a regular person sitting down to her computer, it's far from ideal.

Clearly there's a huge advantage to shipping with the computer as the default browser. Four years of amazing grass-roots marketing and word-of-mouth outreach, combined with a world-class product has accomplished more than anyone in the early days of Mozilla and Firefox would dare to imagine, but we're in an uphill battle because we're fighting not just against the other browsers out there today, but against the growth of the internet itself in a market where every new computer comes with a bundled browser from the OS vendor.

This is not the healthy marketplace that many imagine it to be. This is not the level playing field that 1 billion (and growing) Internet users deserve.

...

Pretty interesting graphs and point, IMO.

[MrChainsaw]

Hope IE goes down to less than 20%

[Denholm]

Hope IE goes down to less than 20%

The only way that would happen is if Microsoft ceased / were forced to stop bundling IE into Windows.

[shakey_snake]

I really figured my above post would spur some more comments.

[Spartan Erik]

Heh once Chrome gets extensions it will beat Firefox. I've been using FF for years now, but once I started using Chrome I got used to it very quickly. It is much more responsive than FF, and other than a few bugs in this beta it's my new default browser

[sanctified Veteran]

Asa Doltzer, commonly thought of as Mozilla's official troll, has an interesting take on all of this:

http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archive...t_share_by.html

Pretty interesting graphs and point, IMO.

That is exactly why Chrome will step up a lot. Google has the power to put it into the conciousness of the masses. Remember, many computer novices only know about IE, but just everyone both novices and experts, know how to use Google.

[qdave]

glad to see that ie7 isstill holding well. best browser ever :p ok except for upcomming ie8 :)

[LTD]

I really figured my above post would spur some more comments.

Well I find it interesting how there is slightly more "variety" in the Mac side of the graph . . .

Why do you think that is?

[Slimy]

Well I find it interesting how there is slightly more "variety" in the Mac side of the graph . . .

Why do you think that is?

Actually, the variety is shrinking on Mac and increasing on Windows ;)

[Malisk]

Once Chrome gets extensions, you'll see it become Number 2 on that pie chart.

Why? Hmm.. For tab isolation alone? Because the soon upcoming Firefox 3.1 has one mighty Javascript engine in TraceMonkey, it puts up a good fight with V8. And jeez, is it noticeable when you use Firefox 3.1 Beta 2. :s (Beta 1 didn't have it activated)

V8 is a new engine, but it's only claim to fame is that it was faster than other engines, it's not any more.

And a separate process for each tab is a great idea, but I don't think it's as important as it's made out to be (I'd take a nice session restore over a method that increases overhead)

Exactly -- tab isolation is no magic bullet. It increases RAM usage a lot over time if you use to have, say, 10+ tabs open, and if you have a good session restoration mechanism, I don't see a big deal, in the case of rare browser crashes. It can definitely be debated whether adding a higher resource load for a low risk scenario that can be mitigated reasonably well in Firefox too is a good idea, and I definitely don't think that feature alone is a major benefit for Chrome.

[shakey_snake]

Actually, the variety is shrinking on Mac and increasing on Windows ;)

IE 5.1 is slowly falling out of use...

[DanManIt]

Which just goes to provide further evidence that the quality of the browser is not at all related to its popularity.

While that is true, every year IE loses share to the other browsers.

[revvo]

Which just goes to provide further evidence that the quality of the browser is not at all related to its popularity.

Funny man. IE comes on every computer and it's called "INTERNET EXPLORER". Of course it will always be more popular than Firefox which users have to download and install. The only way Firefox will beat IE is if it's installed on every PC like Netscape Navigator used to be.

[Chode]

I'm surprised Chrome usage is above Opera's, given how new it is.

Haavard of Opera Software has some food for thought on this topic:

Source

Now that Google have announced that Chrome has reached 10 million users worldwide and our quarterly reports report the number of active Opera desktop users, we can actually compare these numbers to various browser stats.

Since I've been writing a lot about Net Applications lately, let's take a look at how they are doing. According to them, Opera's market share is 0.71%, and Chrome is at 0.83% for November.

If the numbers reported by Chrome and ourselves are accurate, Opera has three times more users than Google worldwide. However, Net Applications reports that Chrome actually has a higher market share.

Food for thought.

Congratulations to Google, by the way, for the official release of Chrome!

(emphasis mine)

FYI, Opera doesn't try to track their number of users based on downloads. They track it based on the internal update feature of Opera.

So it is a thought. If there are approximately 30 million active Opera users and only 10 million Chrome users, then tell us NetApps how could Chrome have a higher market share?

Further proof that these statistics mean crap all.

[Sandor]

you'll find IE will always be the number 1 i think. the fact it comes with windows pretty much guarantees that'll command the lions share of the market. but more and more people are finding out about other browsers and are beginning to use them. that said i think the figures will start to level off soon. IE will probably end up with about 50-55% of the market and the remaining 50% or so will be shared out amongst the likes of firefox, chrome, opera and all the other really minor browsers.

for web designers this would be a problem but luckily IE6 is starting to fade out and IE7/IE8 seem to be a lot easier to work with. i've found i often have to make no alterations any more which is a good time saver