Firefox downloaded 400 million times

Firefox, Mozilla’s open-source Internet browser, passed the 400 million download mark on Friday, continuing its rapid growth in popularity.

Firefox was launched in 2004 and took one year to reach 100 million downloads. It achieved 200 million downloads a year later.

Firefox is closing the gap on Microsoft, with data from Xitimonitor.com showing that the latest version of Firefox holds 27.8 per cent of the web browser market in Europe, while Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has 66.5 per cent.

However, although Firefox is gaining ground in Europe, figures from NetApplications.com for July show Internet Explorer gaining ground globally, increasing its market share from 86.56 percent to 87.2 percent, while Firefox dropped from 8.71 percent to 8.07 percent.

Time will tell if the July statistics are a one-off anomaly, or mark the beginning of a new trend for Firefox.