The figures, published by web developers’ portal W3Schools, shows Firefox with 46.4 per cent, up nearly one percent from January, while various versions of IE, when taken together, dropped by 1.2 per cent to 43.6 per cent. Google’s Chrome browser rose slightly to four per cent.

However, as W3Schools explains, it is primarily a site for people with an interest in web technologies. These users are therefore “more interested in using alternative browsers than the average user” and so not fully representative of the general market.

“The average user tends to use Internet Explorer, since it comes preinstalled with Windows. Most do not seek out other browsers,” the site explains.

The latest statistics from Net Applications make better reading for Microsoft. They put Internet Explorer’s market share for February at 67.44 per cent, with Firefox at 21.77 per cent.

Microsoft will be hoping the release of the latest version of Internet Explorer this week will help it to increase its market share over Firefox, which has been gradually gaining in popularity.

IE8 was designed to better comply with web standards, offer more security features and improved performance.

In recent months Microsoft has also seen its competition increase, with arch rival Google launching its own web browser, Chrome, into the market. The latest stats from Net Applications shows Chrome in fourth place behind IE, Firefox and Safari, with a 1.15 per cent market share.

Firefox a hit with web enthusiasts

In a posting to its Engineering Windows 7 blog on Thursday, Microsoft outlined some of the changes that will be made for the next public version, which will be a near-final "release candidate" build.

Along with the ones mentioned in my previous article, Microsoft is making more than 30 other changes, including expanding its Aero Peek touch interface, adding broader support for older FAT32-formatted hard drives, and making it more apparent when a window in the background wants a user’s attention.

In addition and as it had already committed to, Microsoft is making some changes to the User Account Control feature, following concern that efforts to make the feature less annoying had also made it less secure.

"We change a lot of things in the beta based on feedback and we try to do so in a systematic manner with the focus on the goals for the release," Windows engineering head Steven Sinofsky said in the blog posting. "The goal of having a fully functional beta was to make sure we received reliable feedback and not a lot of ‘hey this doesn’t work at all’ sorts of reports. This has allowed us to really focus on delivering a refined (release candidate) where the changes we made are all the reflection of feedback we have received."

What’s changing through Windows 7 beta

The first post to the Windows for your Business Blog is a very lengthy one. The short version is that Microsoft is urging its business customers to ditch Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The long version is narrated to us by Gavriella Schuster, a member of the Windows Product Management team. Here’s a quick summary of Schuster’s points.

After explaining more about who she is and the rather obvious focus for the Windows for your Business Blog, Schuster starts talking about the current situation of the economy and that customers are looking for “technology that will lead to greater efficiency and cost savings.” Her solution? Start thinking about Windows 7 with documentation from TechNet: application compatibility, hardware assessment, and OS deployment. While waiting, though, businesses should migrate Windows 2000 computers to Windows Vista as soon as possible (extended support for Windows 2000 ends Q2 2010), migrate Windows XP computers to Windows Vista (it will ease the move to Windows 7), and Windows Vista computers need to be moved to SP1. Unsurprisingly, newer is better.

Why not just wait for Windows 7? Other than the fact that the jump between 2000 or XP will be even larger to 7 than it was to Vista, Schuster gives two reasons:

• You may find your company in situations where applications are no longer supported on Windows XP and not yet supported on Windows 7.
• You will want to take time to evaluate Windows 7, just as you evaluate any new operating system for your environment prior to deployment (see deployment realities above). As Windows 7 is planned to be released in about three years after Windows Vista, the total period that many customers will likely be waiting prior to deploying Windows 7 in their environment will likely be in the range of five years after the Windows Vista release.

She ends with: “customers who are in the process of deploying Windows Vista or who are considering a deployment to Windows Vista will find their investment in the deployment not only pays off in the value they’ll receive today, but will also put them in a much better place to take advantage of the benefits of Windows 7 moving forward.” The recommendation that doesn’t stand out enough, in my opinion, is to look into the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), regardless of which OS you plan to deploy.

Microsoft to business users: it’s time to forget 2000 and XP