Chrome usage creeps up on Microsoft

Internet Explorer's growth slowed once again, and Chrome shook off its slump in August, new statistics show.

IE remains the dominant browser, but its share has slipped in the last year as Chrome rose. (Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Although Microsoft made progress in its goal to exterminate Internet Explorer 6 in favour of Internet Explorer 8's more modern and secure design, Internet Explorer overall slipped from 60.7 per cent to 60.4 per cent of global usage, as measured by Net Applications.

Chrome had slipped for the first time in its history, sinking to 7.2 per cent in July, but returned to growth with 7.5 per cent of August usage, Net Applications said.

Mozilla's Firefox market share was essentially flat, with 22.9 per cent usage. Apple's Safari rose from 5.1 per cent to 5.2 per cent, and Opera dipped from 2.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent.

After years in which Internet Explorer's dominance led to a largely dormant browser market, the software has become highly competitive again, with new entrants and new uses. The web is growing increasingly significant as a medium not just for browsing content but also for using applications; as web technology evolves, so must browsers.

Internet Explorer has been a laggard at this evolution, but Microsoft is trying to dramatically overhaul its browser with the upcoming Internet Explorer 9. It's released several Platform Preview versions in 2010 and plans to launch the first Internet Explorer 9 beta on 15 September.

Microsoft's overall usage may have slipped for August, but the company is happy to see Internet Explorer 8 growing at the expense of Internet Explorer 6.

"For August, [Internet Explorer] share worldwide decreased 0.34 [percentage points] to 60.40 per cent worldwide, but in a world of customer choice, we are pleased that people are continuing to choose Internet Explorer 8 three times more often than other browsers when they make that move [away from Internet Explorer 6]," said Ryan Gavin, senior director of Internet Explorer Business and Marketing, in a blog post on Wednesday. "While there is still a significant number of Internet Explorer 6 users who have not upgraded, most of these users are concentrated in developing or emerging markets, as well as enterprises with substantial application dependencies that take time to migrate."

Firefox, meanwhile, is racing to finish Firefox 4, which is in beta testing now, but is still 692 bugs and a few features away from final release. Google is set to release Chrome 6 soon, though with its behind-the-scenes automatic-update feature, few people know which version they're using.

Via CNET