Firefox/Win 7 Gain Share, Vista/IE Lose It

Oct 2 2009, 9:48am CDT | by Robert Evans

It's generally accepted among tech geeks that Internet Explorer is an awful, clunky web browser to use. Most people who use the Internet for a living probably end up choosing Firefox, or Chrome, or Opera, or Safari, or what-have-you. The vast majority of users, however, are still totally comfortable with IE. That's why it holds a commanding percentage of the browser market.

After September though, it has less of a lead than it once did. According to studies by web metrics firm Net Applications (via ZDNet) Internet Explorer's overall market share dropped by 1.26% in the month of September. It is now down to 65.7%, which is still a substantial lead, but less of one than Microsoft has had in years.

Firefox, by comparison, is up .77% this month, to 23.75%, which makes it the only serious competitor that IE really has. Chrome doesn't come in close to either of them, with 4.24% of the market (it rose .33% last month). It isn't happening quickly, but people do seem to be turning away from IE in increasing numbers. Maybe because we have more net-savvy folks these days than ever.

On an interesting note, Windows Vista saw its first drop of share since January 2008 this month. It's down .18%, to 18.6% of the total OS market. This is almost certainly due to the imminent release of Windows 7. No one wants to buy a Windows Vista machine when they know that a vastly superior operating system is only a few weeks away.

Win 7, by the way, also saw a jump this week. It now holds 1.52% of the market share. This is impressive, primarily because the product is not out for retail yet. I think we have piracy to thank for Win 7's early lead. You wacky torrenters!

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.