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Firefox surpasses IE6's browser share in October
October 2009's browser stats are in, and while Microsoft's Internet Explorer still lead the pack, IE6 has finally been surpassed by Firefox. Internet Explorer continued its descent, losing 1.07% browser share (from 65.71% to 64.64%), Firefox's share grew .32%, from 23.75% to 24.07%, Safari's share rose .18% to 4.42%, and Chrome furthered its lead on Opera, with the former gaining .41% (from 3.17% to 3.58%) and the latter declining .02% (from 2.19% to 2.17%).
IE6 is still accounted for some 23.3% of total Internet Explorer usage -- more than any other version. IE7 claimed 18.16%, IE8 18.12% and IE8 compatibility mode had 2.42%. Firefox 3.5 has taken off, accounting for 13.9% of all Firefox use, version 3.0 was attributed with 8.79%, and Firefox 2.0 only held a 1.14% sliver. Safari 4.0 (3.52%) and Chrome 3.0 (3.14%) are almost entirely responsible for their individual shares.
IE6 is still accounted for some 23.3% of total Internet Explorer usage -- more than any other version. IE7 claimed 18.16%, IE8 18.12% and IE8 compatibility mode had 2.42%. Firefox 3.5 has taken off, accounting for 13.9% of all Firefox use, version 3.0 was attributed with 8.79%, and Firefox 2.0 only held a 1.14% sliver. Safari 4.0 (3.52%) and Chrome 3.0 (3.14%) are almost entirely responsible for their individual shares.
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User Comments (45)
Post a comment| red1776 on November 4, 2009 8:36 PM | IE6? i fear my favorite browser (opera) may not be around much longer at this rate. this is some heavy duty linking here, but I think this explains why Vista got such a bad rap...and why folks wont let go of XP. |
| Ju1iet on November 4, 2009 8:49 PM | I think IE6 is the fastest launching browser. It has a small footprint on the RAM. No tabs, it can't print a web page fully but people still use it. Maybe it's about old sites that were designed for IE6 and never updated then. Even Opera Mini 5 Beta has tabbed browsing. |
| Kibaruk on November 4, 2009 8:54 PM | Indeed, might be old support for some sites that doesn't work with another explorers, such as governamental sites of some countries. |
| jurrasstoil on November 4, 2009 9:44 PM | Nice to see that Firefox is still on the rise. I've tried every popular browser for more than a week or two and FF (3.0.15) is by far the best imo. I would really like to know why the IE is still so "popular" tho... |
| klepto12 on November 4, 2009 9:54 PM | its not that IE is that popular its that every pc that runs windows comes standard with IE already there and most people dont know any better. |
| kimsland on November 4, 2009 10:04 PM | IE6 has finally been surpassed by
Firefox. That's probably because most Users already
previously have IE installed plus FirefoxI have both installed, why uninstall Internet Explorer, just let it sit there. Then when you finally want to use it, run a Reset on it first |
| guyfred26 on November 4, 2009 10:28 PM | Because IE8 has to much compatibility issues on some companies and there are many vulnerabilities that a hacker can think of. Firefox is much better and google chrome. |
| elroacho72 on November 4, 2009 11:30 PM | I like IE 8 I couldn't imagine going back to 6! I find it hard to believe that most people don’t update IE. I think when the hype of the new Firefox release claims down IE will be back on top. |
| freedomthinker on November 4, 2009 11:59 PM | Well , seems Firefox is doing nicely  Even surpassed IE6 ,
quite the leap . But still all browsers have a long way to
go to catch up with MS . But if Microsoft just stands there
doing nothing there will be consequences .
|
| kimsland on November 5, 2009 12:03 AM | But if Microsoft just stands
there doing nothing there will be consequences . Huh
 They just released Windows 7, I'm pretty sure MS is going
strong
|
| wagan8r on November 5, 2009 12:40 AM | I'm surprised that IE6 was leading the market share. I guess people just don't like change. I wouldn't be able to stand not having tabs anymore! |
| flippa on November 5, 2009 12:48 AM | I can see Safari moving up next year. Their new version is quite nice, but ill stick to Chrome. Also think about how many companies that only allow there employees to use IE on work computers as well as sites that only support IE. |
| Puiu on November 5, 2009 12:56 AM | Older copies of windows xp come with IE 6 and only a few
people know how to upgrade it if they don't use the windows
update (mostly those who don't use an legal copy of
windows). Also there are those who just don't want to
upgrade because they use another browser. Only those who use IE8 upgraded their browser, the rest use the default one or just install another third party browser. |
| razerblade on November 5, 2009 2:22 AM | I can't believe IE6 is still around on a lot of machines! But most of those will be household users who do not know how to update their operating system/internet browser. |
| limpangel on November 5, 2009 2:50 AM | As a web developer I was more than often frustrated with the
lack of "cooperation" from IE6, not to mention the lack of
w3c standards compliance (exept for Microsoft proprietary
web standards). IE7 was an improvement, but very liitle.
Sometimes more frustrating than IE6. But IE8 is by far the best Microsoft browser. So far I only had to do minor adjustments between my Firefox view and IE8 view. So, with the comming of Windows 7 (IE8 included) and its rapid adoption by bussineses and people as well (see http://www.techspot.com/news/36800-windows-7s-share-cli mbs-some-40-during-launch-week.html) I think IE6 shares will decline a lot in the comming months. Maybe its death won't be "slow and painfull" after all.(see http://www.techspot.com/news/35789-microsoft-dropping-i e6-support-not-an-option.html) Who knows, only time will tell, but I hope is for the better.
|
| Puiu on November 5, 2009 3:34 AM | @limpangel altough IE8 is their best browser yet, it still
needs a lot of work compared to it's competitors. Also IE6's
share will decline but only by a small percentage. Win7
still needs a lot more time before it even climbs above the
10% mark. I'm hoping that by the time FF4.0 arrives IE6 will
be under IE8 and IE7. Maybe FF 3.6 will help a bit until
then. ^_^. BTW i'm hoping Opera's share will grow more because it's turbo feature is really great especially with not so good WIFI connections. |
| ET3D on November 5, 2009 3:58 AM | @razerblade, true that a lot of home users will be using whatever browser came with the system, and will never upgrade, but a lot of businesses also still use IE6 because they have old applications written for it. Businesses are always behind the curve when it comes to tech. |
| JMMD on November 5, 2009 6:23 AM | I'm sad to see that people are still using IE 6 with the push MS has made to move to IE7 and IE8. Personally I've used Firefox for a few years now simply because of addons like NoScript and AdBlock. |
| slh28 on November 5, 2009 6:29 AM | The only reason the dinosaur that is IE6 isn't dead yet is because so many companies still use them for their systems and just can't be bothered or can't see a reason to upgrade. Me and most of the people I know just get used to IE6's crappiness at work. |
| waterytowers on November 5, 2009 6:30 AM | It is good to see Firefox support going strong, since I
believe it to be better than IE. IE will still have the
greatest total share for a long time to come because
Microsoft is the main browser supported within business. At
least Microsoft have been addressing standards compliance in
their most recent IE versions, the Microsoft way, by having
a separate standards compliance mode, which was initially
turned off. At least they now have a standards mode It
is better than prior versions which only supported their own
proprietary standards. The Internet was badly damaged due
to the browser wars of the past where everyone wanted their
own standard, rather than using a single standard. I still
occasionally encounter sites that I can't browse because
they Microsoft only sites, but they are much fewer.
|
| fref on November 5, 2009 7:37 AM | I'm still using IE6 at work, but not by choice! Apparently,
we have applications that don't work with newer versions of
IE. I don't think I'm using any of them, but still, we're
not allowed to upgrade. I've installed Firefox 3.5 alongside IE6 a few months ago, and I'm much happier for it.
|
| buttus on November 5, 2009 7:54 AM | This should be a warning flag to Microsoft in that the browser wars are very much active. If MS is not careful, Opera, Chrom and Firefox all are slowly eating their install base down bit by bit. And now in Europe to appease the EU there, MS has included install options for other web browsers. A sign of things to come me thinks. |
| swilllx2p on November 5, 2009 8:11 AM | What I wonder is if say firefox was the default already installed web browser instead of IE. What would the market shares look like then? How many people would actually go out of there way to download,install and use IE. I'm willing to bet that IE would be around the market share of chrome and safari. |
| zaidpirwani on November 5, 2009 8:45 AM | Well for me it is only Google Chrome (Dev Release) though it
crashes now and then, but it has the best response times I
have yet to see in a browser, though I still use Firefox
when the need for its extensions arises and IE, I only use
it to test if the web sites I design are looking okay in it
and all my sites will prompt the user to switch to chrome or
Firefox. As for Safari and Opera, Safari is on my Mac and the only time I used Opera was to try its Unite(or was it called something else) service, it has a good server setup for the likes of me, who just want to show a client his site.... Chrome rules, and Firefox is the Ultimate King, until extensions for chrome surpass those of Firefox, or if Google finds a way to use Firefox extensions on chrome....oh that would be just too cool.. but I can dream, can't I..
|
| njel on November 5, 2009 8:53 AM | Chrome is surely the one I would prefer if it did not have
some much incompatibility problems. It is light and I like the UI. Firefox is my "every day" browser and I like all the plug-ins available. IE8 is installed by default so I keep it and I use it when I need it for special web sites incompatible with FF. It is a shame to see that some we sites are still incompatible with FF. MS should concentrate on their OS and let others companies develop browsers. But as Google is going to release next year an OS with a browser completely integrated (I think) and with Web Applications replacing Office. MS will not let that concurrent come in his "garden" without fighting. So let's hope something new and completely amazing will come from MS with their next browser... |
