Though Firefox usage has reached only 18 percent of the US market (quite the rise, actually), the browser is gaining much more ground in Europe, and the latest version is outpacing Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7.
(You’ll have to have patience with the US. We still haven’t transitioned yet to the metric system If it works for us, we see little need to change it.)
Overall, Firefox has captured 28 percent of the European browser market, forcing Internet Explorer to below 70 percent for the first time since…well, since it left Netscape in the dust a decade ago.
The numbers come courtesy of France-based XiTi Monitor. Of the 32 countries measured, Slovenia and Finland lead the pack in switching browsers, each passing a 45 percent usage rate.
Ireland and Hungary are switching the fastest, each of them reaching nearly 40 percent saturation in the past quarter. Ahead of Hungary (and Poland) in terms of usage rate is Slovakia, with 40.4 percent using Firefox.
(I knew a man from Slovakia once. His name was Bennie, at least that’s what he went by because nobody could pronounce his name in Kentucky. He claimed to be the Secretary of State of Slovakia, told great stories about deer hunting, smelled to high heavens, and drank black beer out of Mason jars. I was his RA one summer in college, just until he found a suitable apartment while he pursued a Master’s degree in Public Administration, courtesy of the US government –at least, that’s what he said. Bennie also told me that Budweiser was a Czechoslovakian phrase that meant “Beer of Kings,” not King of Beers.)
Ahem. Anyway, as far as the latest edition, Firefox 2, it is outpacing Microsoft’s latest version, IE 7, just about everywhere. XiTi says that since March, share of website visits coming from Firefox 2 has historically passed IE7, commanding 23.1 percent versus IE 7’s 22.6 percent.
