Internet Explorer 6 is a moribund browser. There is little doubt about this aspect, and the reality is that IE6 is obsolete from all points of view, and as such, an inferior product to Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2.0 and Firefox 1.5 for that matter and Safari 3 for Windows. Currently, IE6 is living its final moments, but the browser proves quite the survivor, which is a sure indication of the blatant disregard for security of some Windows XP users. More specifically, 42.75% of all browser users are still running IE6.

According to data published by Net Applications, Internet Explorer 6 took a wrong turn in August, as it dropped from 44.59% to just 42.75% of the market. Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2.0 and Safari all benefited from the extra users shopping around for a new browser. The almost 2% market share drop was divided between the three products, with the lion's share going to IE7.

As Windows XP also dropped on the operating system market while Windows Vista picked up the crumbs, it is obvious that with Microsoft's latest operating system, IE7 also increased its audience. Vista's default browser jumped in a single month from 33.55% to 34.60%. In this manner, IE7 returned to a quasi-standard pace of growth, after the initial momentum synonymous with the launch dissipated.

Firefox 2.0 was also a little shy of picking up the users abandoning IE6. And while some IE6 users indeed upgraded to IE7, Mozilla's open source browser also increased its market share from 12.98% to 13.57%. Firefox is in a constant face-off with Internet Explorer and the open source browser continues to erode IE's market share more than any other alternative solution.

The gap between IE6 and IE7 has been nothing but detrimental for Microsoft, forcing users to seek and adopt more secure browsers, and Firefox was the most logical solution. Safari 3 for Windows, still in beta, but closing in to its official launch concomitantly with the release of Mac OS X Leopard, also grabbed a small segment of the market, increasing its share from 0.49% to 0.55%.