Firefox Could Dominate Internet Explorer and IE8

By: John Lester
Staff Writer
Published: Jan 30, 2009

The Firefox Internet Web browser has continued to take market share away from Microsoft's Internet Explorer. A recent report shows that the Mozilla browser is growing which could threaten IE8.

The Mozilla Firefox Internet Web browser has continued to take market share away from Microsoft's Internet Explorer. A recent report shows that the Mozilla browser is growing which could threaten IE8. The report was published by Net Applications which indicates steady growth for Firefox which could threaten the next version of IE.

Even so, Internet Explorer still has 68 percent of the Web browser market while Firefox increased to 21 percent. Each month since October, IE has dropped a point while Firefox gained a point.

Coincidentally, some Web sites that target specific audiences are showing different results. For example, our Web site shows Internet Explorer with 54 percent while 38 percent of our visitors use Firefox. It seems to vary depending on Web sites that aim for different audiences.

Internet Explorer's downfall could be as a result of a critical security vulnerability in November and December which took Microsoft engineers longer to patch. This vulnerability was serious enough that it allowed hackers to take control of a user's computer. However, Microsoft confirmed that consumers didn't report any successful exploit attempts to IE.

Firefox has been the most interesting Web browser overall. The browser has more usage than other rivals combined. Mozilla offers a wide range of support and a research team that seek new possible solutions. Firefox also has a variety of plug-ins that also make the Web browser popular.

The published report was compiled by Net Applications which tracks 160 million Web visitors each month.