Neither Mozilla's Firefox 4 nor Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 have been available for download very long, but the two browsers are already battling for dominance. Currently in the lead? Firefox, which snagged "twice as much usage in half the time."
VentureBeat reports that according to data from web analytics firm NetApplications, Firefox has been slaughtering Microsoft's baby when it comes to downloads. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
It all started with day one of Firefox 4's release:
Mozilla’s Firefox 4 browser trounced Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 in first day downloads when it launched last week, but now it’s further walloping Microsoft’s browser by snagging twice as much usage in half the time, according to data from NetApplications. As of March 26, Firefox 4 was seeing a 3.64 percent share of browser usage after only being available for 5 days. IE9, which launched just a week earlier had 1.78 percent after 12 days. The numbers are a clear sign that Mozilla’s hard work has paid off for Firefox 4 and that IE9 will be at a disadvantage for some time since it runs on far fewer platforms (it only supports Windows Vista and Windows 7).
We'll be reaching for our popcorn buckets and continuing to watch this never-ending battle for browser supremacy, but for now we're impressed by Firefox's leapfrog.
Related stories:
- Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 arrives today
- Mozilla's Firefox 4 likely to launch on March 22
- Firefox 4 soars, thanks to Microsoft's Luddite customers
Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's a bit obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook.