Bill Gates Rolls On

It looks like when it came to Firefox, I might have been a late adopter. Read:

Firefox’s dramatic success in the browser market appears to be slowing, according to the latest figures.

After an initial surge with the release of the first full version in November, the pace at which the open-source browser is winning market share has slowed down. It now holds 5.7 percent of the market, according to analyst firm WebSideStory. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer may have seen its figures slip but it still dominates with a remarkable 89.9 percent of the market.

According series of figures from OneStat.com, give Firefox an 8.45 percent share with Explorer boasting 87.28 percent.

However, the speed at which Firefox is gaining market share has slowed down, WebSideStory said. Firefox’s market share grew 15 percent over the last five weeks, compared to growth of 22 percent in the period between December and January. From November to December, it was growing at 34 percent.

Microsoft is promising a more-secure, Internet Explorer 7.0 this summer. Firefox, rather than becoming the savior of safe surfing, might end up the next Netscape instead.