A couple of months after the browser ballot has been included in installs of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 has already resulted in Microsoft’s IE browser losing even more market share to its rivals, according to web stats firm StatCounter.

In France, IE usage has dropped by 2.5 percent, Italy by 1.3 percent, and the UK by 1 percent. Browser developers Opera and Mozilla have reported strong growth within Europe, with Opera claiming that downloads have tripled since the ballot was introduced, and a Mozilla spokesperson claiming, "We have seen significant growth in the number of new Firefox users as a result of the Ballot Choice screen”. As the ballot is rolled out across the rest of Europe, Mozilla expects further gains to be made.

The ballot isn't universally popular. Although 12 browsers are offered, only the top five are immediately accessible. The remaining seven are only visible after scrolling horizontally. As the seven minority browsers expected, their presence in the ballot has done little to boost their market share. A spokesman for the Flock browser said, "To date, new downloads of Flock originating from the browser choice screen have only contributed marginally to growth in overall downloads. This is also the case for the other browsers not on the main screen."

The remaining browsers have petitioned the EU to get the ballot changed. For its part, Microsoft still maintains that the browser ballot is compliant with the EU's demands. With some 200 million European users due to be shown the choice screen, and the benefits of being included becoming increasingly clear, time is clearly of the essence for the seven smaller browsers.  What is also clear though is that Microsoft IE is certainly not the defacto browser of choice anymore and testing on multiple browser’s and version is certainly going to get more complex as users get more options.


There are 12 browsers on offer:

  • Avant
  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Flock
  • Green Browser
  • Internet Explorer
  • K-meleon
  • Maxthon
  • Opera
  • Safari
  • Sleipnir
  • Slim

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