Both Net Applications and StatCounter have released their figures for browser market share for 2011 and it makes for largely unsurprising reading. Internet Explorer’s full share has dropped but it still maintains the top spot — a 52 percent share according to Net Applications and 39 percent according to StatCounter. Meanwhile, second place remains tantalizingly within reach for Chrome, which has made headway catching up with Firefox, whose growth had apparently stalled during 2011. According to Net Applications, Firefox held a 21.8 percent share of browser users this month, while Chrome reached 19.1 percent, up just under 8 percent and capping off a second year of impressive growth. Meanwhile, StatCounter pegs Google’s browser at second place for the end of the year, claiming 27.3 percent versus the 25.3 percent share grabbed by its vulpine rival. Unsurprisingly, the Windows Team Blog takes a different slant on recent browsing trends, trumpeting that its latest version, Internet Explorer 9, continues to grow on Windows 7. This is, however, balanced out by a corresponding drop in the users of its predecessor, IE 8. Better luck next year, eh, Microsoft?

Internet Explorer holds onto top browser crown while Chrome and Firefox tussle over second place originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget

Internet feeling a bit sluggish recently? Yeah, we get that — but before you sail the malware-laden sea of software that promises to “speed up” your computer, you may want to check out Firefox 9. Mozilla’s latest browser update features a tweak in its Javascript engine that boosts its benchmark performance by over 30 percent — meaning that the new Firefox ought to give script heavy websites a run for their money. In addition to the new Javascript trick, which is called Type Inference, Firefox 9 improves theme integration and swipe navigation for Mac OS X users. Have a need for (javascript) speed? Hit the source links below to get your fix, or simply wait for your browser to auto-update.

Firefox 9 now available, boasts speedier JavaScript handling, Lion optimizations originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ExtremeTech  |  Mozilla (Windows), (Mac), (Linux), (Release notes)  | Email this | Comments
Engadget

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we’re using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

Continue reading IRL: Thule Crossover backpack, Technocel Battery Boost and upgrading from Firefox 3.6

IRL: Thule Crossover backpack, Technocel Battery Boost and upgrading from Firefox 3.6 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget

New, experimental versions of Firefox are now available for those who would like to test the faster, flashier Firefox of the future.

Wired Top Stories

Firefox creates a kerfuffle in announcing it will drop version numbers from the popular web browser’s “About” dialog.

Wired Top Stories

Google is the only major holdout in the “Do Not Track” flag initiative that Microsoft, Apple and Firefox are incorporating into their browsers. Google says the flag is too unclear — but it could also hurt its bottom line.

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