“At about 8 a.m. PDT Friday, Firefox crossed the billion-download threshold–a notably large number for Mozilla’s open-source Web browser but one that doesn’t tell the whole story,” Stephen Shankland reports for CNET.
“Firefox director Mike Belztner said in June that Mozilla estimates there are 300 million Firefox users, up from 175 million a year earlier, so don’t go thinking there are a billion people using it. Indeed, I find the total user population a much more interesting statistic than downloads,” Shankland reports. “Firefox has truly achieved real success, eating steadily into Microsoft Internet Explorer’s dominant market share to become the second-most used browser.”
“After years of near-dormancy after IE crushed Netscape in the 1990s, the browser wars are back in full swing. The growing migration of personal and professional activity to Web applications, the growing adoption of broadband Internet connections, and the growing adoption of truly Web-capable mobile phones are combining to make Web browsers a strategic asset in the computing industry,” Shankland reports. “Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, Opera Software, and others all want to be the gateway to the world’s most vibrant medium, the Internet.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Congrats, Mozilla!
(We’ve downloaded more than a few of those Firefox downloads over the years, but we currently use Safari 4 exclusively.)
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