FLOSS browsers surpass closed alternatives

Thanks to the anti-trust agreement between the European Union and Microsoft, which made easier for MS-Windows users to choose their default browser in Europe from 2010 on, the number of Firefox users has surpassed the number of Internet Explorer users in the EU in December.

According to StatCounter,Firefox holds 38.1% of the European market, more than the 37.5% of Internet Explorer. Since Google Chrome holds another 14.6% of this market, the two most popular FLOSS browsers, together, hold more than half of the users in Europe (52.7%). In Brazil, the two browsers also hold over half of the market, with 51.8% (Firefox with 29.7% and Google Chrome with 22.1%).

Worldwide, Firefox (30.8%) and Google Chrome (14.8%), together, are virtually tied with Internet Explorer (45.6% against 46.9%), in a stark contrast to the situation of just a few years ago, when Internet Explorer held 80-90% of the browser market.