Millions download latest Firefox browser but it is losing market share

There have been more than five million downloads of the latest Firefox version release only a day ago. Mozilla the maker of the browser has a map showing in real time where the downloads are happening.

Despite the rapid uptake, downloads have been slower for version 4 than the last version. Firefox market share is actually declining slightly mainly because of competition from the Google browser Chrome. That is the browser I use. I tried to use Firefox twice but both times it simply did not install properly on my Vista system.

The new Firefox 4 comes just a month after Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9. This is the market leader by far.Firefox has enjoyed rapid growth since it first appeared in 2004. At its peak, in 2009 it held a 24% market share, according to Netmarketshare. By February this year the share had fallen 3 per cent 21 per cent.

Google's Chrome has grown very rapidly from a minimal one percent to ten per cent. When I tried the first Chrome I found it had a lot of troubles but when I tried later versions I actually preferred them to Internet Explorer and so changed. People I know who use Firefox are quite pleased with it.

Even though use of Internet Explorer has dropped considerably it is still far ahead of the pack. It dropped from 68 per cent of market in March 2009 to 56 per cent in February of this year.

Some analysts think that Internet Explorer may lose even more market share to Firefox. An analyst said:."Internet Explorer 9 is only for Windows Vista and 7. Two thirds of companies are still using Windows XP," If you want to make the most of the HTML 5 stuff that is out there then you have to go to IE9 and a Windows 7 upgrade or switch to Firefox."That may be a significant opportunity for Firefox,"