WebProNews

A recent report from web analytics firm One Stat reveals that Mozilla Firefox usage worldwide has increased by nearly 3 percent since April 2005, pulling Web surfers away from Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape and Opera.

Firefox's global usage share has reached 11.5 percent, says One Stat. Internet Explorer is still the browser of choice for the vast majority of the online world, commanding 85.45 percent, based on reports from over 2 million users.

In the United States and Canada, however, Firefox is much more popular. Just over 14 percent of US net-surfers use Firefox as their primary browser, compared to 80.73 percent for IE. Almost 17 percent of Canadians prefer Firefox to 78.52 percent in favor of IE.

The United Kingdom has shown the most reluctance to switch to Mozilla's open source browser, as just under 5 percent use Firefox. Microsoft keeps the strongest hold in the UK with over 93 percent using IE.

"The global usage share of Mozilla's browsers is still growing and it seems that Netscape users and some Internet Explorer users are switching to the Firefox version," says Niels Brinkman, co-founder of Amsterdam-based OneStat.com.

Overall, the numbers are bleak for other browsers. Apple Safari is used by only 1.75 percent of the online populace, while Opera and Netscape combined account for just over 1 percent.

Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.