After the great Internet Explorer (IE) vs. Netscape browser wars of the 90s, it didn’t appear that Internet Explorer would ever be challenged again…thus Microsoft’s complacency with updating IE. Then just 4+ years ago, Mozilla Firefox burst onto the scene with a small, fast, and safe browser that caught fire quickly. As spyware and other malware all but crippled IE users, Firefox became stronger and stronger and with the release of Firefox 2.0 in 2006, Firefox was here to stay.
This week, Firefox officially hit more than 1 billion download since its firs release. A huge accomplishment demonstrated by its nearly 25% market share (IE owned nearly 92% of the browser market just five years ago). Site statistics for HelpMeRick.com show that more than 61% of my visitors use Firefox! I knew I had smart folks accessing HMR.
Last year, Google entered the browser market as well with Google Chrome and all the competition has as always been good for tech consumers. In fact, since Firefox burst onto the scene, Microsoft has released two major updates (7 and 8) to Internet explorer after not doing a thing to their browser in nearly 6 years!
Congratulations Firefox team, one billion downloads is comendable and I hope the next billion comes quickly!
