APCMag.com readers: 37% Firefox

Dan Warne
09 August 2006, 1:33 PM


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Internet Explorer usage is sinking fast, at least according to APCMag.com's latest statistics. It's down to 53 per cent of users, and Firefox is gobbling up Microsoft's once unassailable monopoly position.


apcmagbrowserstats.pngMicrosoft Internet Explorer has substantially lost ground in recent months to Firefox within the APCMag.com user community.

A whopping 37% of users are now browsing with Firefox. Another six per cent use Apple Safari.

Firefox now only has a 16% gap to close until it is equal to Internet Explorer at 53% (assuming, of course, Internet Explorer doesn't lose any more users to Firefox).

Ongoing Vista delays won't help Internet Explorer's standing in browser usage statistics, nor will news that IE7 is barely more CSS compliant than IE6 -- it is only 54% CSS 2.1 complaint, compared to IE6 at 52% and Firefox at 93% by one tally.

Longtime Microsoft advocate Paul Thurrot even went so far as say IE was a "cancer on the web that must be stopped" this week.

Clearly, APCMag.com's stats are indicative of the fact that most readers are well informed on the various alternative browsers and therefore a larger than normal proportion of our readership has opted for an alternative browser.

However, as a counterbalance, consider that APCMag.com is an associate site of NineMSN, which, as it's part-owned by Microsoft, naturally gets a lot of Internet Explorer user traffic due to referrals from various Microsoft websites. Therefore, the fact that Internet Explorer is only 53 per cent of the total is actually surprisingly low.

Will Microsoft's plan to push IE7 out onto all XP users' PCs via automatic download do anything to stem the tide of users flowing over to Firefox? Our suspicion is that IE7 will be arriving at the party after everyone has gone home.

Microsoft can add tabbed browsing and a phishing filter, but it can't quickly stimulate the user community to produce the same number of useful extensions that are available for Firefox quickly, nor will it be able to render standards-compliant web pages properly, it seems.


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halcon:

In the past, all the browsing software was very expensive to buy, remember Netscape Navigator? that browser was given as a trial software for an specified time, then you had to buy it, as I said it was expensive, and they were making new revisions and updates that cost as much to the point it was not feasible to use the Internet, because a bunch of foolish arrogants viewed it as a goldmine to exploit the users.
Until it came a champion to change all that, yes I acknowledge Microsoft for introducing it's Internet Explorer browser free for all and banquishing Netscape to dust.
times have changed, Microsoft has become an arrogant software entity, they dont recognise the needs of their user base and they are now that big monopolist monster; they are dictating their rules upon us.
Course Microsoft for all the suffering done ib selling their software at overinflated prices, if Linux could equal Windows on everything then you could have a real choice and tell farewell Microsoft!

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Rob Di Toro:

Dan also forgot to mention that IE7+ uses about the same amount of memory as a game of Counterstrike: Source - currently my IE7 browser is using 134MB of memory, where as a firefox session viewing the same tabs uses around 30MB.

I mean c'mon! its just viewing pages!

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Sean Lynch:

To correct the first comment...

Netscape Navigator had a free download version forever.
It had an enhanced version that sold for US$29.95

I believe that the commentor is confusing the Netscape Web server software, which was expensive to license, with the browser, which was free or cheap.

Also, Microsoft is explicitly quoted as to why IE was made available for free. It was not to act as a champion, but to "Cut off Netscape's air supply".
http://news.com.com/Microsoft,+Intel+wage+war+of+words/2100-1023_3-217848.html

Besides, Firefox is free of cost, and can even run on a free platform like Linux or BSD. IE only runs on Windows and Macs, so you must pay for a license for one of those OS's in order to legally run IE. That's an expensive license fee for a "free" browser. Save $100 on your next PC, and load a free OS instead.

Of course Mr. Gates does encourage people in the Third world to Pirate his OS, so the become, in his words, "addicted".
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-212942.html

So you can always take his advice and use a pirated version of Windows, instead.

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

2shane:

I stopped using IE once and for all time, liek abut 8 years back... when OPERA started including lots of really BASIC stuff like POP-UP blocker and such like.

It was only some 5 or 6 years later that Microstupid introduced something beyond "idiot features".

I mean fair dinkum..... 1 screen of lovely naked ladies.. fine.. 37 screens of not so pleasing pop up screens and MS did absolutley nothing about things like this for 5 or 6 years after other companies had introduced it......

You think I am going to take that kind of developmental crap from MS... not likely.


Now IE only sits on my machine, should perchance, the need to do some automatic update, to a MS site, that of course, only works on Internet Excreter....


I am so grateful to the Fire Fox people and all the individuals out there, who have worked really hard to make this software as good as it is....

Thanks

2Shane.

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Robbie Blackburn:

I think there must be a bit of a contradiction in viewers of the APC page. As Dan mentioned, APC is an associate of NineMSN, so you get a large amount of IE users getting linked here, and those who read APC, who I would assume use Firefox with how much APC endorse it.

I can't find the link, but I viewed an article a month ago or so where it showed Firefox market share for different countries, not just the overall (just under 15% now I believe?).

In western cultures Firefox had 30%+ market share, while more impoverished nations had less than 1%, no doubt a result of Bill Gates donations, perhaps we'll say a change in those statistics with the $100 Laptop program?

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

halcon:

Let's clear this up!
Netscape Navigator was never free of charge.
MS Internet explorer was a fairly good alternative prior to Mozilla Firefox.
In my opinion, Bill Gates is an idiot who don't care about anything, just to make more money for himself, I don't think he would like to encourage poor countries to "pirate" the line of software of his company.
Is the people last resort to desperately grab a piece of software that is needed for the running of their computers.
Up to this moment, there is no real competition against Microsoft, so the big monster is taking an unfair advantage.
Neither Linux or any other alternative Operating systems are in the same playing level as Microsoft Windows,too bad isn't it?
The only reason why I use MS software is because there is no good alternatives, so is time that courageous people stand up and do sommething about it!

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Robert:

Please children, enough useless blather. No, Bill Gates is not an idiot who cares about nobody. Do you know anyone else who donates billions every year to charity? In fact, if he is so stupid how did he acquire all those billions? Again, don't cry about copying Apple or whatever. Apple suffered from poor leadership and direction and paid the price for about 10 or 15 years.

Anyway - does it matter who wins the browser wars? No-one effectively gains either way because the software is free. There is theoretically no financial motivation behind their development. Of course, Internet Explorer is designed to be more compliant with Microsoft web services, but they're free too.

In the end, as long as you use Windows to run Firefox or to search online with Google - Microsoft is still the ultimate winner.

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Will:

A comment to 2Shane about IE being the only browser to update Windows. There is a plugin for FireFox to update Windows via the Auotmatic Update site and there is another site http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/ to update as well.

29 February 2008, 8:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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