Firefox Becomes Greatest Threat To Internet Explorer

By: Jennifer Hong
Staff Writer
Published: Jan 2, 2009

According to a recent comprehensive Web browser report, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is losing market share to Mozilla Firefox. The overall report shows that IE has dropped below 70 percent.

Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer lost more market share to Mozilla Firefox in December. A published report by Net Applications indicates a steady decline in IE while Firefox continues to rise.

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 site category and niche.

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.