PC Browsers Still Battling It Out
Internet Explorer has been the most commonly-used PC browser since 1999, superseding the then-popular Netscape Navigator. Coming bundled with Microsoft Windows, still the most commonly-used PC operating system, has certainly helped Internet Explorer (IE) maintain this position over the years.
In some ways, the web has been shaped by IE, as web designers would naturally code their sites to work well with IE - regardless if IE actually complied to the web standards of the time (which it sometimes did not).
For the last few years, other browsers have gained popularity with Windows, Mac and Linux users and there has been a slow but inexorable shift away from IE during that time. This has perhaps made web standards more meaningful, as the other browsers tend to hew more closely to the standards than IE traditionally has.
Until recently, Mozilla's Firefox (a relative of Netscape Navigator) has been in second place, with Google's Chrome browser being a scrappy third. It's now thought that Chrome has the momentum to overtake Firefox in the next year. Both Chrome and Firefox can be used on Windows, Mac or Linux PCs.
Currently, IE is around 55%, Firefox 22% and Chrome 16% globally.
Interestingly, Apple's Safari browser has just passed 5% global browser usage - most likely due to the increased presence of Mac OS X. The "webkit" browser engine used by Safari actually has a large share of the mobile browser market (smart phones, etc).
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