Rival browsers gain on Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer rivals generally gained market share in figures from July, shown at top, and August.

(Credit: Net Applications)

After resetting its methodology to better account for global variations, Net Applications' browser usage statistics have resumed an earlier trend in which Internet Explorer's main rivals edged ahead.

Mozilla's Firefox had the most notable gain, from 22.5 percent to 23 percent, while Google's Chrome rose from 2.6 percent to 2.8 percent. Apple's Safari was flat at 4.1 percent, and IE dipped from 67.7 percent to 67 percent. Opera, in fifth place just before this week's release of Opera 10, was essentially flat at 2 percent.

The browser wars are back in full swing. Though IE remains dominant, rivals are racing to build in new features to make the Web a better foundation for applications--the vision Netscape had back in the first generation of browser wars of the 1990s. Only recently has Microsoft joined the HTML 5 discussion in earnest.

This time profitable powerhouses such as Google are pushing this Web applications facet of cloud computing, and even Microsoft is embracing the trend with an online version of Office en route. Using the browser and the Web to run applications has a lot more meat on its bones after a decade of work.

Microsoft is working to wean the world from IE 6, the version of the browser that shipped with Windows XP, and has made some progress, according to Net Applications' statistics.

Version 6 still rules the IE roost, but it's dropping in usage.

(Credit: Net Applications)

IE 8 usage increased from 12.5 percent to 15.1 percent usage from July to August, while IE 6 dropped from 27.2 percent to 25.3 percent. IE 7 decreased from 23.1 percent to 21.1 percent.

Mozilla's newer version 3.5 of Firefox, released in June, also made gains from 4.5 percent to 8.9 percent. Firefox 3.0 dropped from 16.2 percent to 12.5 percent.

Using a modern browser is important when it comes to bringing the Web application technology to fruition. Older browsers lack support for advancements in page layout and graphics, HTML features such as built-in video, and perhaps most crucially, fast execution of Web-based JavaScript programs.

[Don Key]

If MS hadn't sat on their but for so long with IE and not made any changes, they wouldn't have had to worry about this. How long did it take for IE to get tabbed browsing even?

[forever4now]

I think all PC vendors should do their part in promoting open web standards, by installing at least one fully open standards compliant browser (i.e. Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera) on their PCs. Sony's plan to pre-install Chrome is a good first step.

Such a move would greatly simplify the lives of web developers and help web technology move forward.

If you use IE, run the following acid3 test & compare the results to any of the other major browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari).

http://acid3.acidtests.org/

[xilonic]

Is there a single browser that passes the test?

[tehrabbit]

Anyone know just how much this is affected by system quality and open apps? I ran this on a top of the line (in 2002) laptop with aim, wmp, and 6 firefox tabs and it scored 93...I tried the same thing in IE7 and could not make out what was on the screen...it was utter gibberish. So regardless of whether or not it can be passed FF performs much better than IE.

[forever4now]

@xilonic

On Firefox 3.5.2, I get 93/100.
On Chrome 4.0, I get 100/100
I seem to recall reading that Safari also gets 100/100.
Not sure about Opera, but I suspect it is also very high.

[pentest]

I don't think any browser gets 100% yet but as usual IE is trailing the rest by a good amount.

[Jive Turkey]

My results:
IE7 - 13 and was barely readable
FF - 70
Safari - 73 and and image which shouldn't be there appeared
Chrome - 99, but it took 5 minutes longer than the other browsers
Anyone got Opera?

[Efrow]

Opera 10 (on Mandriva Linux): 100/100, nice and fast :)

[ktswami]

Opera passed Acid3, 100/100, in March, 2008, guys...17 months ago.

[eddy m]

My results a few minutes ago:

On Mac OS10.5.7 -
Safari 4.0.2, 100/100
Firefox 3.0.13, 72/100

On Windows XP Pro -
Firefox 2.0, 52/100
IE 7, 12/100

[gsmiller88]

They all dropped or stayed the same except for Firefox and.....Netscape?!

I told the IE guy at work that my PC desperately needed upgraded from IE 6 to at least version 7.

[Shankland]

A lot of people in corporate environments that require IE 6 also use some other browser--usually Firefox. If you don't have permission to install software on your machine, though, tough noogies.

[SactoGuy018]

I'm not surprised that Mozilla Firefox has really taken off, especially with the recent release of Firefox 3.5, which is a big improvement over previous Firefox versions.

But don't count out Internet Explorer 8.0 (available for Windows XP/Vista and standard on Windows 7). It renders slightly slower than Firefox but its stability has improved -tremendously-, and I've never had any memory-related issues with IE 8.0 like I had with IE 7.0.

It will be VERY interesting to see how it all shakes out on the Windows side with IE 8.0, Firefox 3.5.2, Google Chrome and now Opera 10.0 (I've tried Opera 10 and it's actually pretty good).

[Hokulea]

I don't notice all that much difference in rendering speed between IE8 and Fx 3.5.2 but still prefer Fx.

Fx 3.0 caused major memory issues for me with page caching. However, with Fx 3.5 it's much less of a problem. I would still be using the Fx 2 branch, it it was supported, as it remains my favorite Fx version. The new version of Opera looks good so I think I'll give it a go.

Too bad so many people are still using IE6.

[gerrrg]

Firefox has been around for a long time, so they have a huge head start on Chrome.

What really is funny, is that there are still a number of people running Netscape's browser. Like, come on already...it's the 21st century.

[pentest]

Netscape is now called Seamonkey and is quite modern.

[Shankland]

There are things about IE 8 I find pokey (a number of user-interface issues are quite laggy for me, and I notice its feeble JavaScript performance on heavier-duty Web apps), but its page-render time is pretty impressive, I think.

[FF2009]

die, die, die IE. You going down. The sooner the better. With Chrome pre-installed on Sony's as a default Browser and EU-IE less the downfall of IE is imminent in 2010. The future is bright for Open Source Browsers.


Firefox and Chrome all the way.

[goodspeed8701]

Who is even buying vaio(s). And if you don't like IE good for you. But this your behavior i insane.

[ckh1272]

"by goodspeed8701 September 2, 2009 12:06 PM PDT
Who is even buying vaio(s). And if you don't like IE good for you. But this your behavior i insane."

Sounds an awful lot like some of the rants you make against certain companies. Glass houses must be a big seller these days.

[Lennron]

Wow. Almost no change what-so-ever. LET'S ALL GET EXCITED!!!!!

[Shankland]

Bear in mind that a few tenths of a percent, multiplied by the hundreds of millions of people using browsers, can actually be a pretty big deal in absolute numbers.

[mailbox001]

Although Microsoft is losing marketshare, has anyone considered thats what they want. With the different markets that they are in, they don't want to dominate it, they just want to be in the top 3. So they can avoid regulators and lawsuits and focus on intergrating their software into everything. They have various competitors but is there any other company doing what their doing in the consumer/enterprise sectors?

[t8]

I doubt it.

IE is just a bad browser. I couldn't imagine them saying, "lets make this next version slow and weak" so we don't get too much market share.

[ktswami]

I have one simple question, Stephen: Who is Net Applications paying to have their totally erroneous browser statistics littered all over the news? They've finally reacted to the chorus of criticism with their faulty methodology and they're still getting it wrong.
http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-monthly-200808-200909-bar

And those statistics are still pre-Opera v10 release. They will jump big time with the most innovative browser for the last 15 years raising the bar again...again...when next week's info from StatCounter comes out.

Opera is profitable and also has the #1 mobile browser and the #1 embedded device browser, so all the badmouthing is comical and inane.

Try Opera v10 and see the future...again. And save millions of web developers from the headache of writing custom IE code. Write for standards-compliant Opera (or Safari or Chrome) and your site will work in all browsers (except IE...for that, you get to spend more time fixing for their horrible non-standard rendering engine).

And use Opera Link to sync Opera on your phone over-the-air with Opera on Windows, Mac, Linux...bookmarks, custom search shortcuts, personal bar, typed history...! Try Opera for a couple days and you'll hate that you listened to the naysayers for so long...

[paulej]

Where is the bad-mouthing of Opera? I didn't read any negative comments. The charts show Opera increased market share just marginally. I see even fewer Opera users (by percentage) on my tech-oriented web sites.

[Michichael]

I wonder if ktswami is being paid by Opera. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

[Jive Turkey]

ktswami, at least Net Applications aren't using last year's stats as if they're still relevant. Check your source you moron. And do you even have any sources regarding the #1 mobile and embedded browser? BTW, I've tried Opera on both my desktop and my Touch Dual....I uninstalled it on both within a week.

[Efrow]

Opera user since 1997, when everyone else was using IE. Man did it rock then, and does it ever rock now too.

[ktswami]

@Jive: Can you click on a link? Or if CNET doesn't know how to activate URLs and it stays text-only, you could right-click on it in Opera and "go to web address."
http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_browser-ww-monthly-200909-200909-bar

Went back to PocketIE on your Touch Dual, eh? Great for viewing WAP-compliant sites...cool. Opera Mini/Mobile will show all sites.

@Michichael: Paid? Puh-lease. Just a long-time Opera user who can't believe that when you close your browser with 5 tabs and two windows...only Opera re-opens all of them next time you start-up...and everyone still uses a different browser?

And no tech reporter can spend the 10 seconds to figure that out and write that Opera pioneered that Session Restore feature? How many million-man hours got wasted last year with everyone not having that feature in their browser?

Opera v2.1...yes, TWO-point-ONE added Session Restore in Dec. 1996...when Windows 95 & Mac OS v7.6 were in use...and Apple just bought Steve Jobs' NeXT.
http://www.opera.com/docs/history/#o21

@paulej: It's not bad-mouthing, it's touting bogus browser stats, as if they can be relied upon. They can't...too many complicating variables.
http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/stat.htm

[Efrow]

@ktswami: Relax my fellow Opera fan! Nobody has really bashed Opera here yet. So someone tried it and uninstalled it - it's not for everyone, but that doesn't mean it's worse. It's just really preference at this point. Opera does have a leg up on Firefox in some ways, but you have to admit that Firefox does have extensions that Opera does not have - maybe not essential for me, but still... those options are out there for those who want them.

For me, Opera is my #1 browser, and has been for about 12 years now. I was zipping around the internet with tabs, mouse shortcuts, sessions, fastforward, etc., for many, many years before Firefox finally came out. Everyone else was telling me that IE was fine for them :). Now they're Firefox fans and touting all the features that I've been using in Opera for years and years. It's all good - too bad they missed the boat earlier, but at least they can have a better, faster, more efficient browsing experience now.

[rockn_1234567]

Can someone please explain how companies make money producing a browser that they give away for free? This is one aspect of the internet that I have never fully understood.

[Michichael]

rockn - they get money from advertising and marketting their brand. The browser serves as a powerful tool for that, giving iconic entry into the internet. I'm sure if somebody says firefox you instantly think of the Firefox Symbol. Hell, some people nowadays think of firefox when they hear the word "fox." This is a powerful tool for advertisers that pay Mozilla to use the firefox name/symbol in their advertising. That's just one example, there's many forms of marketing .

[unknown unknown]

Firefox has a deal with Google (and probably other search engines) for the search bar, they get some fraction of a cent for every search.

[SergeM256]

"they get money from advertising and marketing their brand" - no, it doesn't explain how they make money (if they make money). Following this logic GM should give away free cars to promote their car because every moving car is an advertisement for GM. I didn't see any Mozilla advertising that uses marketing power of FireFox logo. When you visit any website, it is the same advertisements, regardless of the browser you may be using, so that there is no advertisement from Mozilla in the browser. It is true that Google pays Mozilla, allegedly for making Google default search engine, but it is more like charity donation - most people use Google anyway, including IE users

[WinNoMo]

I am glad to see standards compliant browsers gaining share. We as a people put too much trust in the hands of Microsoft and they have not been good stewards of that trust.

[t8]

Just goes to show you how behind IE is.
It is the default and it is losing market share.
If the default was just a little bit slower and behind, it shouldn't lose market share.
They are losing market share and this shows that people are going out of their way to download another browser.

OEMs are probably bundling rival browsers too, as they know how slow and behind IE is.

[t8]

Microsoft is living like it was 1999. Ten years behind in their thinking.

[Rookieyogi]

I would really love to see how the browsers are doing in Europe and more specifically in the different European countries. As an ex-Microsoft guy, I always look at Microsoft technology first. What is surprising is that I and most other developers I know use Firefox because of the add on applications we use like Firebug. http://nettrafficbuilder.org