The title could very well be rephrased Firefox takes its monthly bite out of Internet Explorer, because the trend is over a year old. In March 2006, Internet Explorer accounted for a total of 84.7% of the browser market share. And it has been all downhill from there for the Redmond Company. Internet Explorer has been continually losing its market share at the pace of approximately 1% per month. The fact that Microsoft made Internet Explorer 7 available in October 2006 did little to impact the browser market share loss.

Mozilla has continually eroded IE's share, and in contrast with Internet Explorer has been on an ascendant trajectory since March 2006. According to data made public by Market Share via Net Applications, Firefox has increased its market share from 10.05% to 14.18% in just one year. In the same period, Internet Explorer has dropped from 84.7% to 79.09%.

Opera did not manage a spectacular performance, and has oscillated, experiencing periods of growth followed by loss of market share. Currently, Opera accounts for 0.79% of the browser market share, up from 0.54% one year ago. Safari however has managed to gain a share of approximately 2% in one year, making it the fastest growing browser after Mozilla's Firefox.

The commercial availability of Windows Vista will also be a factor impacting the evolution of Internet Explorer. Not only has Microsoft been pushing IE7 via Automatic Updates, but the browser also ships with Windows Vista. This strategy will continue to help the Redmond Company cut its losses, but Firefox has produced a considerable dent in IE's dominance over the browser market, and the current trajectories show little signs of change.