1 In 10 Now Use Mozilla's Firefox1 In 10 Now Use Mozilla's Firefox
Firefox came within a half-point of the 10% market share that many analysts have set as the bar to long-term success against Internet Explorer.
Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox browser finished the year with a flourish, a Web measurement firm said Wednesday, and came within half a point of the 10 percent market share that many analysts have set as the bar to long-term success against Microsoft's leading Internet Explorer.
According to the latest numbers from Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based NetApplications, Firefox wrapped up 2005 with 9.6 percent of the browser market, a gain of almost a full point over November.
"Firefox is very close to hitting a critical mass of 10 percent, which could mean a more rapid adoption rate," said Vince Vizzaccaro, vice president of marketing at NetApplications, in a statement.
Although first-generation Firefox 1.x accounted for the bulk of the open-source browser's market share, the newest edition, Firefox 1.5, which went final in late November, gained ground in December. The last month of the year, said NetApplications, Firefox 1.5 was used by 2.5 percent of surfers, an impressive increase over November's 0.3 percent.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer continued to slip in December, falling to 85 percent from November's 86.1 percent. In the last 12 months, IE has lost five percentage points in the browser battle.
"But IE won’t go away quietly," cautioned Vizzaccaro. "Long overdue upgrades are expected to be released in 2006." Microsoft's IE 7, which will be released in versions for both the upcoming Windows Vista and for the current Windows XP, is now in testing; a public beta of IE 7 for Windows XP is expected this quarter.
Other than Firefox, the other browser winner of 2005 was Apple's Safari. With small but steady gains throughout the year, Safari jumped past Netscape for third-place honors as it tallied 3 percent of browsers used, nearly double its 2005 start.
Netscape, meanwhile, faded again slightly in December to end the year with just 1.2 percent of the market. Opera, however, held steady at 0.55 percent. The Norwegian-based browser went through a complete overhaul of its business model -- once ad supported, the browser is now free -- to no avail.
"While any company would be thrilled to hold Microsoft's 85 percent market share, IE can't rest lightly," concluded Vizzaccaro. "Netscape also once owned a huge percentage prior to IE's debut."
A complete breakdown of NetApplications' December data -- by browser version -- can be found on the company's Web site.
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