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According to Net Applications, an authority on Internet browser usage statistics, Internet Explorer (all the versions added together) is continually losing market share, and has finally dropped below 60%:
Meanwhile, as you can see from the graph, Firefox’s market share is at 24.59%, Opera and 2.3%, and Chrome at 6.73%. Chrome had the largest increase in market share at a increase from 2.4% only last year. This chart gives a better idea about the browse usage trend over the years:
It is interesting to note that other sources, such as W3Counter, say Internet Explorer market share is even lower than the 59% stated by Net Applications:
Further it is even more interesting to note that Firefox has already surpassed Internet Explorer as the most popular browser used by dotTechies (50% vs 30% roughly).
Of course no one knows exactly why Internet Explorer is losing market share (it is impossible to know exactly), but chances are it is because
- Other browsers, such as Firefox and Chrome, are offering enhanced features via extensions/addons. Internet Explorer also supports addons, but not to the extent of Firefox and Chrome.
- Other browsers are boasting better speeds.
- Awareness among users is being raised to the fact that Internet Explorer is not the only browser out there. Internet Explorer has a really bad reputation (particularly thanks to Internet Explorer 6) so when users find out about other browsers, many make the move.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the matter.
It might drop even more with introduction of browser choice window.
As for me I am using Chrome more and more even if I was skeptic at the beginning. :) It is much faster than Firefox.
IE is not for me.
Only FIREFOX.
chrome just rocks.
Firefox has become very slow to load with each new version release
I stopped using IE when the “Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and must close” came up before my three or four tabs could load. It was a constant problem on my system, one that doesn’t happen on Chrome or Firefox. I especially resented the “Internet Explorer will search for a solution” as that never resolved any situation and just became Major Annoyance Number Two.
I think your third point is the most telling, Adrian. Releasing a bad version won’t necessarily kill confidence in an app, but it does get users thinking about alternatives, which they may try, and like.
This is especially true for an app that has so much dominance that it gets complacent. Quark Xpress ruled the graphics industry until it took its users for granted: thought its users were locked in and would stay loyal no matter what. InDesign has blown it away.
@Anand: I use Firefox, but find that newer isn’t always better. (not just Firefox, but many programs have that problem) My current version is 3.0.8 and I don’t have any problems with slow loading.
As for Chrome NO THANKS! After having it forced upon me during a program installation, and no option to say yes or no to the installation, I don’t want Chrome as my browser and am not a happy camper that Google has done this.
As for I.E. I’ve stated a number of times here on dottech how much I H8 it. I only use it when I have to. I also use it to see if any websites I develop will work in it, and that is it.
I don’t mind Opera, and also use it to test websites I develop but it isn’t my browser of choice.
Firefox, then Chrome, then IE…uh, no make that Never IE.
Chrome is a bit Apple’ish -
They arrogantly decide what (FEW) options are available, and good luck finding what you want. They both(Apple and Chrome) give me the ‘pip’.
Also it is the one browser, that does NOT allow you to store web pages on your hard drive in a nice compact (SINGLE) file.
All others (except Safari, – Apple again), either have an option to store as .MHT, or there are add-ins that allow you to do that.
First is:Maxthon for me.Next is Firefox.Internet Explorer-never.
@Old Prop: I concur
I primarily use Firefox; that’s not to say that I don’t have my issues with Firefox, but speed isn’t one of them. Once I get past that first initialization Firefox opens as fast as any other browser I’ve ever used. But there is no other browser that I know of that offers the customization that Firefox offers. I’ve tried Flock too and it’s dirt slow. I think I’ve tried just about all of them including SRWare Iron the Chrome alternative, And when one comes along that offers the same level of customization that Firefox offers I will seriously consider it.
The two browsers I won’t use are IE and Chrome, for the same reason; security. That and MS is nosy, and collects data too. How can a developer say they’re browser is secure when they make a hole for themselves to crawl into, which can be exploited?
I love this site, not because I love voicing my opinion, but because it gets this old brain to churning.
My web browser is opera because it’s the only who works without need to install add-ons. All i need is in, that’s a web browser !
The NetMarketShare browser report has been widely discussed around the Internet in the last 24 hours. While the statistics are not entirely confirmed, their accuracy is generally accepted.
In 2003, Microsoft could claim 95% of the market for IE because of the practice of bundling the browser with the OS. This has proved to be a mistake, quite possibly because the browser they served up was the much-maligned IE6. The release of IE7 and IE8 in the last three years is a belated acknowledgment that five years’ of IE6 had cost them an ever-increasing loss of satisfaction among end users.
Firefox has proved to be formidable competition; even Chrome has enjoyed a surge in use in the last year. This is probably attributable to the fact they’re constantly improving browsers. It’s also quite possible the increasing awareness that other browsers are available has enhanced their share of the market. Not coincidentally, Microsoft’s losing court battle in Europe has opened a significant new user base for alternate browsers.
While Firefox, Chrome, et. al. ever reduce IE to a minority share of the browser market? I suspect that’s debatable, considering a large number of users are apparently still content with Internet Explorer. These browsers will, in my opinion, continue to find wider acceptance among the world’s users who look beyond the default install.
I finally gave up on IE when it was crashing due to Flash issues on a >daily basis…. I only go back to visit certain sites that just won’t work in Chrome, which is my current choice.
I do miss a couple of things – based on what you’ve written I’m sure there are Chrome extensions to do things, but I had liked the IE accelerators for Wikipedia and Yahoo! Maps… and translation is kind of a pain too (especially with a number of the dottech deals!), but I can live with those inconveniences compared to the very frequent IE crashes which just became too much to take.
Go Chrome go! :P
~Joji~
I will test every new browser or new versions but I dont think I will change Firefox as my main “every-day” browser for the next 10 years :-)
@RobCr: Dear RobC, I disagree with you. But here you go, here’s the Chrome extension that does what you wish: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mpiodijhokgodhhofbcjdecpffjipkle?hl=en
What is it with people that IE has a market share even as high as it does?
I understand that there’s business owners who are too cheap and ignorant to convert — and “regular” folks who can barely work a computer in the 1st place — but are these kinds of people really that prevalent? I guess so.
16 ~ Scaredwitless … Thanx for the Chrome extension link. It works well and solves a past liability of Chrome.
My list goes Firefox>Chrome>Opera>Netscape>>>>>>>>>>I.E.
I am seriously considering uninstalling it from my system.
@Scaredwitless:
Thanks for link.
It is not idiot proof (and the video is a bit French)
It installed ok.
I guess I am meant to click the ‘Process this page’ button.
The drop down has three checkboxes which are all ticked.
I hit the button at the bottom ‘Process 1′
My screen did not ‘glaze over’ like it does in the video. There is no visible reaction, apart from the drop down, closing back up.
I then clicked the button to the right ‘Control the current page’
I click ‘Save Page as’
All I get are the two usual choices, neither of which creates a single .MHT file.
Maybe it needs an Apple ? (I am using Win XP in a PC).
Opera FTW!!!
I use Firefox 99% of the time, love the way I can customize it to do what I want. Chrome is next in line. As for Internet Explorer, well, I created some rules in my firewall that prevent it from accessing the internet. It’s a nuisance to switch the rules off each time something insists on IE, but it’s well worth it!
@RobCr: It’s pretty straightforward with the instructions from their page:
“1 – instructions :
After your current page is fully loaded, click on the SingleFile icon and press the “Process” button to launch the “embedding process”. When it’s done (i.e. the shadow has disappeared), you can save the page (with Ctrl-S) : all scripts, style sheets and images will be embedded into the saved file.
If the process seems to be frozen, click on the cancel button into the popup. You can also report the issue here.”
It works for me, I get the page grey out, ctrl-s to save it. It does save it as a .html still, but the files I get are quite clearly all in one files with all embedded content.
For what it is worth I run Chrome on Win7 x64, though I run the latest Beta from Google(not sure if relevant here though)
In regards to the topic of this article, I switched fully to Chrome from Firefox as soon as Chrome got extensions and the extension community matured a little. I was waiting for a viable alternative to FireFox to jump ship to. I was tired of the continuous degradation in performance and resource usage I experienced with Firefox. And in many ways I stayed with FireFox purely because its extensions capability allowed me to make a custom browser experience perfectly suited to me. So once Chrome got extensions and hit a critical mass of enough equivalents of extensions I desired, I switched, and am quite happy with it.
@Mick: Translation is a quick and easy thing with Google Toolbar.
@sean: It is very difficult, though not impossible, to uninstall IE. :-(