I think that's still an amazing amount for FireFox. Everyone I know who doesn't hang out on the internet much uses IE. At work we're required to use IE and can't have FF. All the old people I know use IE. My parents won't wean themselves from IE even though I've tried. I think it's still marginal.

But I hate to see it get more popular because it's going to become a bigger malware target.

So that's TWO votes for Firefox from Miko!

I had no idea you lived in Chicago.

oops. . .(damn mods, anyway!)

It never fails. Every single time I delete a double comment, someone comments on it!

I use FF exclusively, but I think Miko is right - those that aren't really web-savvy often use IE, and definitely most older people use it. It's easy. It used to come pre-installed with every PC (maybe it still does?) and it's too much bother for a lot of people to switch.

I have a sometimes co-worker who's definitely very web-oriented and 20 years old, who won't switch to FF.

We have to use IE here at work, too. I use Firefox on my home machine, but even as a heavy web user, I don't really feel the difference between Firefox and IE. I can understand why most people wouldn't bother to switch.

My first question would be how is this supposed market share calculated?

TPS: The only difference I ever felt was when my entire machine was taken over and possessed by spyware to the degree that daily scrubs could not keep it functioning even long enough to check my email. I had to wipe my machine and reinstall Windows, losing stuff in the process. FF's protections are so much better - it doesn't have as many linkages and channels as IE automtically sets up (I get the concept but am not techy enough to know the names and actual specifics) and just the fact that it doesn't have enough users to make it worthwhile targeting them (yet) keeps it really clean. So in a sense, it's different and better in ways you don't notice precisely because you don't notice the difference. At work we have a firewall and filters which do the same job, but I can't afford or manage that stuff on my home machine.

The big difference, for me, is that Firefox's open architecture encourages people to develop useful extensions. Bone-stock Firefox might be indistinguishable from IE, but customized Firefox is a completely different experience, so much that, every time I use somebody else's computer, I'm shocked anew at the amount of advertising, the lack of mouse gestures, the gigantic context menus full of pointless options, the amount of screen real-estate taken up by navigation controls, etc.

I've been using FF since the earliest days (back when it was still called Phoenix). I only use IE if I really can't help it (some things just won't work right without it). I wouldn't call myself a fanatic, though, as I also like Opera and if it wasn't for some of the nice new features in Firefox 3 (new address bar thingy, smart bookmarks - I've been running Beta 2 ever since it came out), I would certainly have switched over by now.

Metachat usage statistics. We rock the firefox.
≡ Click to see image ≡

I'm a FF convert from college (seriously, someone came into my room and installed it while I was at class) and I really, really like it. So much so that I've basically hidden IE for everything except fucking Windows Updates and shiny templates for Powerpoint.
My father on the other hand, hates FF. I have no idea why, but he's determined to use IE until it dies on him. Which it does. Frequently.

I just get a kick of the fact that all the computers here at my work all have FF on them. And no one uses the 'supported' IE. Heh.

2.01% Opera. I hope that's not just me...

PSP? Seriously?

I know, I want to know who's accessing this site on their PSP.

I've accessed Metachat on my Wii before, as an experiment - that's a version of Opera, isn't it?

TheophileEscargot: if that's all you, then you must be refreshing like mad!

I use Opera when I'm using my girlfriend's computer. She's a convert (and I'm the one to blame).

Opera user here too.

I accessed MeCha a couple of days ago with my son's iTouch.

I'm one of the Opera people - I use it at home sometimes, but not at work - strictly FF there.

I wuv my FF.