StatCounter May 2012Google Chrome's now the world's most popular Web browser, for now, anyway. During the week of May 14, Chrome was used for more traffic than Internet Explorer. It's the the first time that's happened, though the difference is under 1 percent (Chrome had 32.8 percent, IE 31.9 percent. Firefox had 25.5 percent). The numbers come from research firm StatCounter. There's more pressure on Microsoft for a bigger reason: If it fails to deliver a competitive IE with Windows 8, it could well be surpassed by Firefox, also. Coming five years after Chrome's release, it's a big win for Google. It reminds me of the war between IE and Netscape back in the 90s. You know how that turned out for Netscape. (Never heard of Netscape? There you go.) IE began losing market share as Firefox, Opera and Chrome appeared on the market. Its lack of speed and porous security began catching up with it. The newcomers became the real browsers to watch -- even with IE pre-installed on every Windows computer sold. Related Links