Firefox Usage Continues to Grow

Firefox continued to gain market share during the months of March and April, garnering a 6.75 percent usage share according to Web analytics firm WebSideStory. Altogether, non-Microsoft browsers accounted for a little over 11 percent of Internet users. The report also showed a continued drop in Internet Explorer usage, although at a slower rate than in previous months.

"Given its current growth patterns, Firefox is still within range of reaching 10 percent market share in the U.S. in 2005," WebSideStory wrote in its report.

The research firm also highlighted the disparity in the usage of Firefox among users in different countries. For example, as of late April, Firefox was used by 23 percent of all German Internet users, while in Japan the browser was struggling to reach a 3 percent market share.

WebSideStory offered an explanation of this disparity. "Much of this has to do with long-standing biases. For example, Internet users in Germany have long supported the Microsoft alternative dating back to the days of Netscape," the firm explained.

"Users in Japan, meanwhile, have always fully embraced Microsoft technology."

WebSideStory says it uses actual browser stats rather than number of downloads. This gives a more accurate representation of browser usage. Mozilla has said its download numbers also include those who are downloading updates, as well as those download multiple copies to install on more than one computer.

In late April, research firm OneStat.com reported usage of Mozilla browsers at 8.69 percent, amounting to a gain of a quarter of a percentage point since its last report in February.