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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).

5 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. 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: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.