Firefox 4 downloads eclipse Internet Explorer 9 - Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog)

Microsoft said last week that the new version of its Web browser, Internet Explorer 9, was downloaded 2.3 million times in the first 24 hours.

Mozilla's Firefox 4, which was released Tuesday, was already over 10 million as of 3:45 p.m. today.

And the new version of Firefox has already captured a 2 percent worldwide market share, according to StatCounter. IE9?s share, by the end of Tuesday, was 0.87 percent – even as Microsoft seemingly hijacked the "Firefox" keyword on Twitter with an IE9 ad.

"Firefox 4 has really hit the ground running and has eclipsed the launch of IE 9," StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen said in a news release. "Although IE 9 has undoubtedly been hampered by its lack of compatibility with Windows XP."

Yeah … not entirely sure what Microsoft was thinking. Y'know, I'm actually feeling a little bad for Microsoft's Internet Explorer team. This news must be kinda demoralizing.

It continues a multi-year trend of declining IE use, as alternatives like Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari have gained in popularity. You can learn more about Internet Explorer 9 in my report from last week.

Updated 5:30 p.m.: Microsoft took it upon itself to send me a response to Firefox 4?s blazing release.

A spokesperson said comparing IE9 and Firefox 4 is an apples-to-oranges comparison, since Firefox is available on multiple platforms (Windows, Mac OS and Linux) and Internet Explorer 9 supports only Windows 7 and Windows Vista. The two operating systems combine for about 34 percent share of the market, according to Net Applications. Windows XP's share was 55 percent.

A valid argument, dear readers?

Microsoft also addressed why it chose to forgo Windows XP support in IE9:

The developer community has been vocal that they want to push the Web forward. The browser is only as good as the operating system it runs on and a browser running on a 10-year-old operating system tethers the Web to the past. The time has come to stop focusing on lowest common denominator, and to really push what's possible with innovations like full hardware acceleration. Customers can tell the difference when they see it.

Microsoft has moved on from Windows XP – just like it has from Internet Explorer 6.

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