Will Firefox threaten Microsoft Internet Explorer for the market lead? That is still a long way off, and depends on many factors. Firefox has gained 3.34 percent browser usage market share in the last year, while Microsoft IE has lost 3.89 percent market share in the same period, according to the release. If both companies maintain their current trends, it would still take Firefox over 10 years to pass Microsoft. That doesn't account for the new release of IE expected this year, the possibility of the browsing experience moving in mass to portable devices where Opera Browser has the advantage, or any number of changes in the market place to come.
Net Applications says its ongoing survey of the favorite browser in use has shown some dramatic changes as well. To the question: "Which browser is better?" The options of Netscape, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera were provided to visitors in a random order for each survey taker. And, the survey says:
- Firefox is overwhelmingly considered the best browser available on the market today. The company's survey shows an ever-increasing percentage of voters favor Firefox, now with over 68 percent of the voters choosing it.
- Apple Safari and Opera Browser both had small gains in usage percentage for March as well. Apple climbed to 3.19 percent from 3.13 percent for the previous month. Opera's gain was from 0.53 percent to 0.54 percent browser usage market share.
