Firefox Nears 10 Percent Market Share

Firefox continues to make gains on Internet Explorer, even though the Microsoft browser still holds a commanding lead, a Web-monitoring firm reported Friday. NetApplications said Firefox had reached an 8.71 percent usage share in June, up slightly less than three-quarters of a percent from the previous month. Internet Explorer use fell by a similar amount to 86.56 percent, suggesting most users were switching from IE to Firefox over other options.

NetApplications said it expected Firefox to reach a ten percent share shortly, and that it would continue "to gain significant traction once it gains acceptance by large corporations." The data, which is derived from traffic to more than 40,000 Web sites, also showed Apple's Safari with a 1.93 percent market share, AOL's Netscape with 1.55 percent, and Opera with 0.59 percent.