The open-source browser Firefox grabbed a 21 percent market share in December, keeping its share above 20 percent for a second month. Microsoft's Internet Explorer slipped again, this time to 68 percent from 70 percent a month earlier, according to preliminary data from Net Applications.
IE always suffers a bit around the holidays because it is used more in offices, while Firefox is more popular at home. But the long-term trend is clear, as IE steadily loses share to the more flexible Firefox.
Some still predict that Microsoft can recover. But not Henry Blodget at Silicon Alley Insider:
Its share of the browser market...continues to decrease, a trend that to our knowledge has never happened in a market Microsoft wanted to dominate. If nothing else, this should alert those who regard Microsoft's Internet domination as a foregone conclusion that they might want to rethink things.
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Christopher - Duluth, GA of GA 9:06AM January 05, 2009
of HI 9:51AM January 04, 2009
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