IE9 continues to gain pace at IE8's expense

Microsoft hopes that Internet Explorer 9 will have reached a 25 percent share of the desktop browsing market on its own Windows 7 platform once figures for December are in. According to projections from Net Applications, IE9 will soon become the leading browser among Windows 7 users, overtaking IE8. As it stands, IE9 has now also overtaken Chrome and Firefox in browser user on Windows 7.

"Maybe it’s a bit early to list [IE9 as the leading Windows 7 browser] since we still have a little ways to go, but we are quickly heading in the right direction, which definitely earns a spot on the top 10 list," said Roger Capriotti, Internet Explorer Marketing Director on Friday.

At its current rate of growth, IE9 will pass IE8 for market share before its one year anniversary on March 15. IE9's rise, however, is generally coming from users upgrading from IE8, not necessarily users switching from other browsers. The much improved browser is still benefiting from being the default browser installed in Windows 7. Data from August showed that with IE8 and IE9 combined, Microsoft's total share of the browser market is around 52 percent.

While users are generally more aware of browsing alternatives, the rise of IE9 could also reflect increased adoption of Windows 7 in enterprise as IT departments start to warm to its stability and security enhancements, while also aware that official support for XP will eventually cease. Enterprise users are also generally blocked from installing third-party browsers on their work machines, ensuring that IE8 and IE9 continue to dominate browser use on Windows machines. [via Betanews]

By Electronista Staff