Posted on 08/26/2005 6:31:03 PM PDT by Bush2000
Firefox's 'retreat' ensures Microsoft excels
Open source web browser Firefox has lost the momentum it has steadily gained since it was unleashed last year, according to Web analysts at Net Applications.
The online portal’s unique Hit List service reveals a slump in the Mozilla browser’s market share, falling from 8.7% to 8.1 % in July.
Coinciding with its demise, was the advance of Microsoft's IE that has gained some of the ground surrendered in June, climbing back from 86.6 % to 87.2% last month.
The revival for the dominant browser comes on the back of average monthly losses of between .5 to 1% for Redmond, as Firefox started to gain acceptance among a wider audience than just tech-savvy users.
When asked by Contractor UK whether Microsoft’s sudden gains were from the unveiling of a new IE, Net Applications said a re-launch tends revive industry interest, and could have bolstered Microsoft’s market share of the browser market.
When a company launches a new product, there is always renewed interest in what the company has produced and it would also be fair to say that this may have had an effect, said a member of the Hit List team.
Although, there have been browser issues with Windows 2000 in the news, so it is possible that again you may see a dip [in Microsoft’s market share]. Right now, people are looking for security and whenever there are issues with the security of one's system, they will use what they feel will be the most secure.”
Besides Net Applications, web developer site W3 Schools, confirms that adoption of Firefox is falling, just as IE is reaching its highest share of the market in 2005.
According to W3's data on specialist users, Microsoft IE (6) enjoyed a 67.9% share in July, improving to 68.1% in August matched against Firefox’s top share of 21% in May, which has now dropped to 19.8% for the last two months.
Observers noted that both sets of analysis concur that Microsoft’s loss, up until now, has been Firefox’s gain, but over the last month roles have reversed.
Security fears concerning Mozilla and its browser product have recently emerged, coinciding with Microsoft’s high-profile trumpeting of its new safer browser product (IE 7), complete with glossy logo.
Experts at Net Applications said they were surprised at Firefox’s sudden retreat, saying they expected a slow down before any decline.
Yet they told CUK: “Whenever there may be problems with security, there always is a decline with users changing browsers.”
Data from the Web analytics company is based on 40,000 users, gleaned from their global internet operations, prompting some commentators to question the so-called ‘global decline’ in the Firefox market share.
The Counter.com reportedly finds that between June and July, Firefox actually increased its share by two points, and overtook IE5 for the first time ever.
The Web Standard Project suggests webmasters should treat data from web analysis providers with caution, before rushing to make service changes.
So what can we conclude?” asks the WSP, a grass roots project fighting for open access to web technologies.
“Not much: Mozilla-based browsers are probably used by just under 10% of the web audience and their share is growing slowly. IE5.x is probably used by somewhat less than that and its share is declining slowly. IE6 is roughly holding steady.”
Meanwhile, Spread Firefox, which measures actual download rates of the browser, reports that it took just one month for the Mozilla Foundation’s showpiece to reach 80 million downloads in August – from its July total of 70 million.
At the time of writing, Firefox had been downloaded 80701444 times, meaning adoption rates of over 10m occurred one month after Net Applications says Firefox bolted in light of the dominant IE.
I'm glad it works for you. Cheers.
As soon as I got a windows PC and internet I downloaded Netscape..
I eventually graduated to Mozilla, then to Firefox..
I have never looked back..
The only way I would use IE7 or any other MS browser is if absolutely nothing else was available..
My brother uses IE(6?)/Outlook , and AdAware finds major "bugs" after every use..
I can use Firefox all day/week long and not get the bug alerts he gets with one internet session..
My rule:
Always do Adware/Spyware/Virus scans after EVERY use of IE / Outlook.
also, it was posted by MS fanboy bush2000
First, this is one sample. There is no mention to the methodology of measurement. It can fluctuate greatly - there were several market share studies done during the first browser wars and they never agreed on actual numbers - they often weren't even close.
I'msure in a few days this story will be revealed as the usual FUD.
I began playing with browsers when I heard about Netscape Mosaic. It was still beta at the time, I think somewhere around 0.71. I stuck with Netscape for years, and used it alongside Internet Explorer on several computers. But MSIE kept getting better while Mosaic lagged behind and continued to have instability problems.
A lot of people have a kind of instinctive hatred of Bill Gates and Microsoft as a monopolistic bully. But Internet explorer is just plain better and faster than the various forms that Netscape has morphed into. I think the reason for the numbers is that a lot of uninformed users went over to Firefox because many publications pushed it. Then they got tired of it and reverted.
Confirmed Firefox users are another kettle of fish. Presumably they will stick with it.
What "not" did you "not" understand. I am "not" an advocate for any brouser. I am just trying to tell folks (who I feel are my friends) to use something that is "not" IE, they will do whatever they see fit.
Thank you!
But I'm surprised that it took ten whole posts before someone exposed that idiocy -- or should I say, "overt bias"? Trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy, hmmmm?
That article must have been written by the MS Marketing Dept... Typical liberal BS: tell a blatant lie, and most of the MSSheeple will buy it -- because who checks facts, nowadays? Not those who've guzzled the MS Koolaid...
People are suprised by this?! I use FireFox, I like FireFox, but FireFox was never going to replace IE, there never was a fight, all there happened was IE had a couple of so-so months.
We win again!
But IE still won't conform to CSS standards.
"But Internet explorer is just plain better and faster"
Srry, your'e living in the past there. It was better than netscape, especially when netscape was still lagging in it's rendering engine.
Now IE is in no way superior to firefox. As long as they continue to include the horrible ActiveX, it will continue to suck.
MS's usual policies of "innovate until you dominate" are at work with IE. Now the've stagnated an any 'innovation' they throw out is just a rehash or a copy of something firefox already does.
Demise? A 0.6% decline in market share is a demise?
Anybody who attaches their "ego" to percentages of browser use is in a sorry state of affairs.
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