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Firefox 3.5 Now the Most Popular Browser Worldwide

Posted by kdawson on from the press-the-advantage dept.

gQuigs notes a graph up at StatCounter Global Statistics, which shows that in the last few days Firefox 3.5 became the most used browser version worldwide, edging ahead of IE7. IE8 is rising fast (along with Windows 7), but over the last few months the slope of Firefox's worldwide curve has been steeper. (In the US, IE8 has always been ahead of Firefox 3.5; in Europe Firefox has led since late summer.) The submitter suggests using the time when Firefox rules the roost, globally speaking, to put the final nail in the coffin of IE6, which still has a 14% global share (5%-7% in the US and EU; China and Korea are holding up IE6's numbers).

16 of 422 comments (clear)

  1. Why MS failed. by w0mprat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IE has been diluted by three different versions. IE6 is only really held on to by organisations that developed everything for IE6, and subsequently had everything break when testing IE7. This despite IE6 barely working on half the internet now. Ironically Mircosoft's attempt at lock-in in the past has backfired, few outfits have updated to IE7, less to IE8.

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  2. Re:From The Book of Mozilla, 11:9 by flydpnkrtn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Mammon slept. And the beast reborn spread over the earth and its numbers grew legion. And they proclaimed the times and sacrificed crops unto the fire, with the cunning of foxes. And they built a new world in their own image as promised by the sacred words , and spoke of the beast with their children. Mammon awoke, and lo! it was naught but a follower.

    from The Book of Mozilla, 11:9
    (10th Edition)

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    Here's to the crazy ones
  3. Only reason for any IE6 market share by Old+Flatulent+1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seems to me IE6 having any market share at all is because of the huge number of XP non registered copies floating around in places like China and even the US. Besides how would bot nets survive without Windows warez! Hopefully as HTML5 becomes more developed it will kill it once and for all.

    1. Re:Only reason for any IE6 market share by BikeHelmet · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Insightful? Ignorant.

      Go look up XP torrents. Most come slipstreamed with IE7.

      Much more likely to be corporate users, or people that ignore the little yellow shield.

  4. Re:IE6? Really? by mikael_j · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, checking Google Analytics for one of our websites at work has consistently shown IE6 at "just cranks and a handful of corporate users" levels for a long time now (less than 10%, down to about 5% last month or so). You'll never get rid of it completely, there are still a few nutjobs running Mac OS 9 + IE5 out there, unfortunately a lot of these people will complain loudly when things don't work for them (even though there is no chance whatsoever of most websites supporting their ancient setup).

    /Mikael

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  5. An interesting way to summarize the data ... by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have another way -- Firefox (all versions) at 32%, Internet Explorer (all versions) at 55%. The fact that the IE market is split between 6.X, 7.X and 8.X doesn't not detract from the (regrettable) fact that Internet Explorer is the most popular browser, worldwide. Different versions do not a different browser make.

    In hindsight, this distribution is rather predictable -- FF nags you to update (rightly so) whereas IE can't even update itself, let along notify you about it.

    Here's a plot (thankfully, they give out the raw CSV data) with the "all versions" included. Firefox has a ways to go. http://yfrog.com/j5temptlp

    1. Re:An interesting way to summarize the data ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Different versions do not a different browser make.

      Clearly you have never been involved with web development. "aieee" has wildly different bugs and proprietary features between major versions.

    2. Re:An interesting way to summarize the data ... by dido · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The real story here is in the trends of each version. IE7 and IE6 are in decline. For Internet Explorer, only IE8 is still growing, but its rate of growth is significantly slower than Firefox's. The headline may be misleading, but the the summary is right on the money. If these trends keep up, the headline may well become true a lot sooner than you seem to think.

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    3. Re:An interesting way to summarize the data ... by styrotech · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The fact that the IE market is split between 6.X, 7.X and 8.X doesn't not detract from the (regrettable) fact that Internet Explorer is the most popular browser, worldwide. Different versions do not a different browser make.

      Sure, if you are just a spectator cheering for your team from the sidelines.

      But not if you are a web developer/designer, the different versions are very different browsers. In terms of making a modern website work there is much more difference between IE8 and IE6 than there is between IE8 and FF/Safari/Chrome/Opera etc.

  6. One word: adblock by seifried · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Everyone I know whom I have shown Firefox with Adblock Plus switches and stays with it. The Internet with ads is just horrid (sorry Slashdot!).

    1. Re:One word: adblock by WuphonsReach · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What would happen if you succeed and convert all internet users to firefox + adblock?

      That's sorta why I go for NoScript + FlashBlock over AdBlock. Ads still display - unless they are powered by Javascript or Flash. So if your ad is a simple image or block of text, I'll still see it. But it won't annoy the heck out of me.

      (The bigger reason I run NoScript/FlashBlock is to avoid malware being installed via Javascript / Flash.)

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      Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?
  7. Re:StatCounter? by Trepidity · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not sure "many" of them are. It's hard to estimate, but most estimates for the proportion of users using some form of ad-blocking software are only in the 3-5% range. Even if every one of those is a Firefox 3.5 user, that would only nudge up the 21% market share to the mid-20%s, not totally rearrange the curve or anything.

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  8. Re:IE6? Really? by maxume · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or you could use 'technology' to serve different browsers different versions of the site.

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    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  9. Re:StatCounter? by Machtyn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wouldn't say most FF users are more tech savvy. I would say that most FF users know at least one tech savvy person. Also, I don't think I've blocked StatCounter. I don't know why I should.

  10. Re:IE6? Really? by elashish14 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Corporate Intranets with lazy admins or dumb policies are Microsoft's best friend.

    Fixed

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  11. Re:IE6? Really? by Lord+Ender · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Corporate Intranets with no budget for upgrades are what keeps IE6 alive.

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