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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. Aug 22, 2005 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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