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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).

19 of 422 comments (clear)

  1. Browser down. by binarylarry · · Score: 5, Funny

    OS next.

    --
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    1. Re:Browser down. by TheSunborn · · Score: 5, Funny

      People already complain that firefox is to bloatet. Adding an os might really cause people to complain, but they can always do it as a plugin

    2. Re:Browser down. by ihuntrocks · · Score: 5, Funny

      Given how bloated Emacs is, you're more likely to be able to get Firefox for Emacs.

      Emacs is a wonderful operating system. All it lacks is a decent text editor.

      --
      Randimal: AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG
    3. Re:Browser down. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Emacs is a wonderful operating system. All it lacks is a decent text editor.

      What do you mean by that? You can run Vi in Emacs.

    4. Re:Browser down. by ihuntrocks · · Score: 5, Funny

      I concede defeat to you, sir. Well, played. Well played indeed.

      --
      Randimal: AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG
    5. Re:Browser down. by Idiomatick · · Score: 5, Funny

      I had punch cards... and we hadn't invented the hole punch yet so we had to do it with our fingers. You people worry about carpel tunnel from typing... try ramming your pinky through a sheet of card several hundred thousand times a night. Back then, code monkeys were actual monkeys we trained to poke holes for us to spare our own fingers.

    6. Re:Browser down. by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Funny

      You had it EASY! We had to punch the holes in ourselves using jagged pieces of rock 25 hours a day, until the IT Manager came along, cut us all to ribbons, ingested us in a carnivorous cannibalistic rage, only have to start again, this time in EBDIC!

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    7. Re:Browser down. by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Funny

      LUCKY BASTARD! All we had was flat rocks...the big rocks were the ones, the little rocks were the zeros and Deity help you if an earthquake came along and messed up your program. And where do you think stoning came from? It was just us trying to text message! Receiving a single txt with more than "come here" in it could KILL YOU!!!

      --
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  2. 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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  3. 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.

      --
      Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
  4. My plan worked by palmerj3 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Reenactment - relative has problem with computer

    1. Remove shortcuts to Internet Explorer
    2. Rename Firefox shortcuts to "Internet"

    Firefox 3.5 - My Idea

    --
    Jason-Palmer.com
  5. Re:IE6? Really? by rrohbeck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I see "This site requires Internet Explorer 6" on our Intranet all the time. Peoplesoft for example, urgh.
    Of course, the site will run perfectly with Firefox if I change the user agent string.

    Corporate Intranets with lazy admins or dumb policies are what keeps IE6 alive.

    --
    thegodmovie.com - watch it
  6. Obligatory xkcd post by zill · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://xkcd.com/198/

    Unless you're a web browser developer, keeping track of global browser market-shares is just plain nerdy. But then again, this is /..

  7. 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.

  8. Re:Given the instant speed difference alone by Runaway1956 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I fail to see all good news for Firefox on that page. Or, should I say that I don't see all good news for consumers.

    Together, IE6, IE7 and IE8 still dominate the market. I'm afraid that will remain true for a couple more years, no matter how much pressure the rest of the world puts on the market. Separating the versions of the various browsers just clutters the picture.

    If I may, I'll point out that I'm partly color blind. It's tough to see that chart. It's hard to see the "real picture". What is literally true for me, is figuratively true for those who are working so hard to track browser usage.

    Is there a page that tracks usage, which lumps IE (all versions), Firefox (all versions) Opera (all versions) etc?

    Ahhhhh, here we go: http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-weekly-200827-200951

    Yes indeed. Global domination by Firefox is indeed getting closer - but not this year, and probably not next year. Let's give it between 3 and 5 years, alright?

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  9. Non uniform adoption across countries? by zlel · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I live in Japan and adoption seems really conservative. Let's first take version numbers away to get a better view.
    Japan
    Firefox has been having a 21-23% share for the 2 years, with IE still leading though dropping from 70 to 65%
    Growth in conservative. UK seems to have a similar trend.

    Singapore
    About 30% share and growth is conservative.

    Malaysia
    Growth from 30% up to 40%, with an equal drop in IE share.
    This looks like a market where Firefox can overtake IE?

    France
    very interesting trend. W38 2008 and W26 2009 had a short period where IE use was displaced by Firefox, but IE use was resumed in a few weeks.
    Does that mean users in France are open to the idea, but still don't deem Firefox a good replacement yet?
    Interestingly Vietnam seems to have a similar trend.

    China
    IE has 95% share all the way, with a drop recently, giving way not to Firefox, but to Maxthon.

    Poland / Finland
    Firefox is the most popular browser!

    North Korea
    Nobody really wins. Only IE, once in a while.

    Antartica
    Go figure. But firefox seems to be winning?

    It would be nice if we could have a world map of the most popular browsers in each country
    so we can adjust our expectations when talking to overseas partners...

  10. Seriously.. non event by powerspike · · Score: 5, Informative

    The only reason this has happened, is because people are migrating from IE7 to IE8, if you look at the graph, firefox is a little over half the combined marketshare of ie 7 & 8, this will change in a month or two as more and more people migrate to ie8.

    Using the same method as the poster, you can say that ie6 has more market share then Firefox 3 ....