Chrome 15 overtakes IE 8 for top browser spot

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By Athima Chansanchai

If you're reading this on Chrome, you're part of a wave that has ditched Internet Explorer or Firefox and helped vault Google's browser to the top Web browser spot worldwide.

We've been watching for a while now as reports have shown a consistent rise in Chrome's popularity. We saw how in one report, it's already gone past Firefox, knowing it was just a matter of time before it usurped one of the longest reigning dynasties in the browser world, IE.

But wait, there is a caveat to this: Chrome 15 beat IE 8, specifically, this one week at the end of November, with 23.6 percent of the worldwide market, compared to IE 8's at 23.5 percent.?With all the versions of IE floating around, IE is still No. 1 in the world, but Chrome is right behind it.

StatCounter

Ireland-based?StatCounter???which posts Web analytics based on aggregate data it collects from a?sample exceeding 15 billion pageviews per month (including 4 billion in the U.S.),?collected from the StatCounter network of more than 3 million websites???released a statement?about Chrome 15's ascension, humbling the initial enthusiasm of any Google devotee when it also made it clear that in the?U.S., reports of IE's demise are still premature. According to StatCounter, It was still able to capture?27 percent of browser action last week, compared to 18.1 percent for Chrome 15.

Live Poll

Which Web browser are you using?

• 171054

  IE. Why mess with a classic?

  23%

• 171055

  Firefox. Mozilla all the way!

  34%

• 171056

  Chrome. So far it's working for me.

  38%

• 171057

  Safari. Ok, I'm old school, alright?!

  5%

VoteTotal Votes: 4317

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Different companies will issue different stats on just how much of a lead IE still has on Chrome, with companies such as?NetMarketShare?showing?IE's year-long steady free fall, but still at about 52 percent a month ago.?

Chrome has made a steady rise as IE declines, but Firefox still stands in its way. But not by much. And by StatCounter's measure, in the world outside the U.S., Chrome already brushed past Firefox in November, when it wrested the No. 2 spot with 25.69 percent of the worldwide market (up from 4.66 percent in November 2009) compared to Firefox's 25.23 percent.?

Will 2012 be the year that sees the fall of IE everywhere, including the U.S.? Take our poll and let us know which browser you're using.

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Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/16/9493722-chrome-15-overtakes-ie-8-for-top-browser-spot

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