Surprise! IE6 Takes Browser Lead

It wasn't much of a contest to start with, but use of the new Internet Explorer 6 browser has surpassed that of Netscape 6 in its first week.

It wasnt much of a contest to start with, but use of the new Internet Explorer 6 browser has surpassed that of Netscape 6 in its first week. According to WebSideStorys traffic-tabulating service, StatMarket, adoption of IE6 is happening fast. As of Sept. 3, global usage share of the new browser had risen to 2.4 percent, beating Netscape 6 usage. Its a pattern weve seen before.
"When Internet Explorer 5 was released, its global usage share shot through the roof at the expense of Internet Explorer 4 and Netscape 4," said Geoff Johnston, vice president of product marketing for StatMarket. "Although it started quickly, I suspect that Internet Explorer 6s adoption ultimately will be slower for two reasons," Johnston said. "First, Netscape appears to have solidified a core user base that will not switch browsers no matter what, and second, unless Internet Explorer 6 is significantly better than Internet Explorer 5, many users may be content with what they have." Microsofts Internet Explorer browsers have been dominant since early 2000.