IE losing ground to Firefox
An increasing number of web users are turning to alternative web browsers as a result of safety concerns over security flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Free web browser Firefox, which debuted last year, has been slowly moving in on IE's market share and saw its share of the browser market rise by 0.9 per cent between December 1st and January 15th.
IE's share of the browser market slipped for the sixth month in a row over the six month period, according to web analytics firm WebSideStory. The latest figures showed a 1.5 per cent drop in IE usage. Over the past seven months, Internet Explorer usage has dropped from 95.5 to 90.3, a 5.8 per cent drop.
Firefox now has close to five per cent of the total browser market, up from around one per cent just six months ago.
Another analytics firm, OneStat, estimates that IE's market share has fallen to 88.9 per cent, with Firefox gaining ground on 7.4 per cent, as of November 2004.
Firefox is believed to by a more secure, faster, and easier to use service than Internet Explorer. The browser also offers some features not found in IE, such as the ability to display several web pages within a single window.
In addition to Firefox, other browsers are also growing at a gradual rate. Apple's Safari and Opera grew from a little under one per cent to 2.1, a 1.1 per cent growth factor over the six week period.
Microsoft has spent three years attempting to boost the security and reliability of its products under an initiative called 'Trustworthy Computing.'
25 January 2005
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