If you've been conscientiously referring to Microsoft's near-monopoly of the browser market, you can now safely drop the prefix. Research indicates that IE is now the browser of choice (or no choice, depending on your point of view) for in excess of 80 per cent of the market.

The latest stats from WebSideStory's Statmarket, which collects data on 50 million users a day via WebSideStory's Hitbox, show IE reaching record heights with 86.08 per cent of users, while Netscape is down to 13.9 per cent.

These numbers are of a similar order to those produced by Proteus' Browser Monitor, which reports total IE share at around 80 per cent, but pitches Netscape rather higher, at a total of 19.35 per cent. Microsoft's success in ramming upgrades down users' throats, er, we mean winning their hearts and minds can be gauged by the fact that IE5 on its own accounts for 62.3 per cent, according to Proteus.

Another day, another monopoly, eh? But in the interest of balance we should point out that Netscape Navigator has spent quite a lot of time in a 'huge pile of pooh' situation of late... ®

Related Links

Statmarket
Proteus Browser Monitor