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Old Man IE6 shakes fist as Firefox surpasses him in browser share
Web designers and standards advocates have tried everything to kill Internet Explorer 6, but it just refuses to die. In fact, Microsoft has extended support for the aging browser until at least mid-2010, and longer for some versions of Windows. However, there is strong evidence that people are coming around to browsers that support standards, don't make web designers cry, and have frickin' TABS, for crying out loud ...Firefox is now more popular than IE6.
That's right: according to October browser usage stats reported by Ars Technica, the old, incontinent granddad of the browsing world has finally been overtaken by the cool kid with all the rad accessories. Although IE6 still has 23% of the market - sadly, more than any other version of IE - when you add up the usage on every version of Firefox, you get 24.07%, enough to top that single old edition of Internet Explorer.
I assume the shift is accounted for by home web users shifting to newer browsers with the release of Windows 7, because corporate IT departments are still the last bastion of widespread IE6 use. As Ars speculates, high Windows 7 adoption rates could be the stake through IE6's cold, tab-less heart.
Meanwhile, in the Webkit browser wars, Chrome and Safari both made gains this month. Chrome is still growing faster -- right now it's closing in rapidly with 3.58% to Safari's 4.42%.
Comments
17
Subscribe to commentsbrianNov 4th 2009 3:26PM
am i missing something? comparing the number of users of all Firefox versions to the users of an 8 year old browser seems completely pointless. i think this article should also mention the fact that IE8 is an auto update now, so many non-technical windows users would have received the upgrade from IE6 without even realizing it was happening.
Firefox is good, and i use it myself, but this seems like a pretty big stretch to make a completely insignificant point about firefox market share.
216Nov 4th 2009 3:29PM
bah, danged whippersnappers, with their pants saggin, and hats turned backwards
VinceNov 4th 2009 4:01PM
unfortunately corporations are the biggest IE6 contributer, the do not allow updates to IE7 or IE8 usually because it breaks their internal apps.
sodapopNov 4th 2009 4:17PM
that does mean a whole lot. Most former IE6 users have gone to IE7. But there is still enough to have to cater too. Percentage is not the same as actual users, either.
Andrew PollackNov 4th 2009 5:11PM
The reason the comparison is still of interest, is that as web developers we've been forced to go to great lengths and spend a great deal of time adding special functions and code, and removing otherwise nice features just because there are so many users still using IE6. IE6 presents major compatibility problems for site designers.
Unfortunately, while the move to IE7 and IE8 is growing, many corporations still standardize on IE6 for the time being so we're still stuck supporting it.
danloveshismacNov 4th 2009 5:25PM
...Probably because IE6 is the only IE that:
a) Loads pages fast
b) Starts up in less than a minute
FBNov 4th 2009 5:39PM
What is this IE6 that you speak of?
I must have it, where do I get this IE6?
awholeianNov 4th 2009 5:35PM
microsoft offers a free version of virtual pc and disk images with ie6. if companies must use ie6 for internal apps, they should consider using this tool so the internet can move on.
unfortunately, we will be in the same position years from now lamenting that ie8 does not support canvas or html5 standards.
nothing has changed, ie continues to hold the internet back and microsoft seems to have little interest in changing that.
MonicaNov 4th 2009 7:10PM
I think IE6 is the bane of any web designers existence. It always felt like you were building two websites, one for the normal public, the sane and rational browsers out there, and another for IE6 and all its problems. It never occurred to me to hate MS despite running the world, but after having to deal with IE6, I really did.
Anyway, good to see it dying. Terrible technology.
Monica S
Los Angeles Computer Repair
http://www.sebecomputercare.com
kingkool68Nov 4th 2009 7:25PM
I love IE6 as a web developer. Causes no problems for this hardened web warrior! Here's how you can tame the beast and be happy like me: http://www.russellheimlich.com/blog/developers-stop-whining-about-ie6/
shinzonNov 4th 2009 8:42PM
The incontinent comparison was completely unnecessary.
OverDrivenNov 5th 2009 12:59AM
Are you kidding me? How outdated is this data? Firefox surpassed IE6 back in September of 2007. IE6 has 23% of the market? Try 10% according to actual reliable sources such as this one:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
Firefox is at 47% currently.
sRcNov 5th 2009 1:17AM
different data from different sources. Ars Technica's data is based on the traffic their site gets directly, which are numbers much more useful to THEM. for one of my sites, Firefox is 26%, IE 41% with IE6 15%. and there are other tracking sites that show 32% overall (W3Counter), 24% (Net Applications), and so on. different sources give different numbers
WedgeTalonNov 5th 2009 12:50PM
That's not reliable data. Straight from that site:
"W3Schools is a website for people with an interest for web technologies. These people are more interested in using alternative browsers than the average user. The average user tends to use Internet Explorer, since it comes preinstalled with Windows. Most do not seek out other browsers.
These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is used by at least 80% of the users."
Given the above, those stats cannot be relied on as a good snapshot of average total browser share when targeting a general public.
Quakeulf :3Nov 5th 2009 7:32AM
I'd rather have IE6 and its errors than Firefox and its obnoxious users.
GettpsNov 5th 2009 10:36AM
This article is so dumb, it's amazing the author is brave enough to post it!
He's comparing ALL versions of Firefox to a single version of IE? That's hardly being objective. He should compare ALL versions of Firefox (24.07%) to ALL versions of IE (64.64%)... which tells everyone that Firefox can't even compete.
The only reason he posted this article is because he likes Firefox... his stats have been twisted so it is presenting Firefox in a better light.
Truth is, IE will always have a higher market share than the others... At least until Microsoft goes out of business... which won't happen any time soon.
WedgeTalonNov 5th 2009 1:09PM
The point though isn't about the share of all versions of ie, just 6. The point also isn't about how Firefox is the favorite son. The point is ie6 is the bane of the internet and the fact that a singular alternative browser like Firefox (regardless of which version the user is running) has overtaken ie6 FINALLY is a significant triumph. So including ie7 and 8 is irrelevant because both of those do a significantly better job than ie6. Once ie6 is totally obsolete, THEN the other details become relevant.