995 The Mozilla Foundation has announced that Firefox, the small, fast, Open Source web browser, has been downloaded more than fifty million times. The number is said to be measured only in actual downloads, and not updates of installed versions.

MacUser UK has more info, including news that the little broswer that could has been taking share away from everyone's favorite non-standards complient browser:

Janco Associates' recent 2005 Browser Market Share Study found that Firefox has doubled its market share
between January and April of this year from 4.23 per cent of the market to 10.28 per cent. Meanwhile Internet Explorer's market share has been steadily dropping over the past year. According to Janco, IE now stands at 83.07 per cent. Compare this with the recent analysis by OneStat.com - Internet Explorer browser usage dips again - which put IE's share at 86.63 per cent, down from 87.28 per cent in February.

The situation is even more favourable to Firefox in Europe. According to a recent study by XiTi, Firefox use across Europe is now 13.31 per cent. According to the study, the largest penetration of Firefox is in Finland where it has a staggering 30 per cent market share. The next highest penetration is Germany with just under 23 per cent followed by Hungary and the Czech Republic. The UK is well down the list at 11th position with a lower-than-average 12.12 per cent.

Steve Jobs responded to this news by demanding that Firefox be removed from the shelves at all Apple stores. Employeed then dutifully put Firefox on the shelves, only to remove them moments later.

Still, good job. I love Firefox, since it gives me the speed of Safari with a bit more flexibility. If you'd like to check out the browser, it is available, for free, from Get Firefox.

Bill's been using Macs since the late 80s. When he's not making smartass remarks to amuse Kirk Hiner, he enjoys fighting for the user.

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