:eek: The field will REALLY become interesting when Google and AOL put together THEIR browsers


Also, Can comparisons be made to Linux and Microsoft ?


Firefox wasn't alone in making inroads against IE. Taken together, browsers from Mozilla and America Online Inc.'s Netscape Communications subsidiary accounted for 6 percent of the market, a jump of 2.48 percentage points since September.

Other browsers, mainly Opera Software ASA's namesake browser and Apple Computer Inc.'s Safari browser, crossed the 1 percent line, gaining 0.1 percentage points to make up 1.1 percent of the browser market, according to San Diego-based WebSideStory.

Personally, I'm a big Firefox fan. I think the best situation for us to be in as web users would be if IE loses its dominance, but no browser takes it place. THAT is how the internet should be. While IE is currently total junk, if it were forced to compete in a fair market, it would be forced to become much better, and people would have more freedom to choose.

If on the otherhand, Firefox were to gain the control over the internet that IE currently has, this would not be a good thing, and even I can admit that. What would undoubtably happen is that the devolopment of Firefox would stagnate while the other browsers would continue to advance and develop new features. Webpages would start only being compatible with Firefox, and people would be faced with the choice of using a crappy browser or sacrificing compatibility, just as they are today. I don't think this will happen however, unless a court orders Billy to remove his IE from windows, which is highly unlikely.

What I think will happen is that IE will always have a considerable chunk of the market, but all it takes is for Firefox to get popular enough for people to realize there are alternatives for the browser to have its fair share.

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