Google Chrome was released just 18 months ago and already it has become the third most popular browser. According
to Net Applications, a market research firm, Google Chrome has climbed to the number 3 position after overtaking Apples Safari browser.
It seems that Google’s browser is now appealing to users more than ever now that it has added support for themes and plugins. Also the beta release of Google Chrome for Mac and Linux may be encouraging some users to try out a new browser. This combination must be responsible for Chromes largest market share increase of 0.7% since its release.
Apples Safari browser ended December with 4.46% of the market while Google Chrome claimed 4.63%.
Opera has hit a record high of 2.4% of all browsers while Firefox lost 0.1% of its share leaving it with 24.6% of the market.So the Mozilla corporation will have to wait another month anyway to see if it can break the 25% barrier.
Internet Explorer is still continuing its decline, losing 0.92% leaving it with 62.7% of the market, however on the positive side for Microsoft , IE8 has finally become the more popular Internet Explorer browser of choice. Probably largely thanks to the introduction of compatibility view, which has swayed IE6 users to IE8. Internet Explorer seems to be on a decline that doesn’t seem to be stopping. Internet Explorer used to be used by more than 90% of PC users, it’s obvious that Firefox and Chrome, its main rivals are becoming a pain in Microsoft’s side.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google Chrome’s market share rise much higher as it is an excellent browser. I personally have it set as my default, why? Well I’m yet to find a browser that opens up the second I click on it, yes other browsers may be slowed down by plugins etc… but recently Chrome has managed to bring in themes and plugins without slowing the whole browser down. It’s a very clean, easy to use interface and displays more of the webpage thanks to a small task bar.
I would be interested to hear what browsers you guys use and why,
Let us know in the comments
