Google's Chrome grabs No. 3 browser spot from Safari

From InfoWorld: Google's Chrome overtook Apple's Safari to become the world's third-most popular browser just 16 months after its debut, a Web metrics company said Friday.

Internet Explorer (IE), meanwhile, lost almost a full percentage point in December, the latest slip in a decline that accelerated during the second half of 2009.

Chrome ended December with a share of 4.6 percent, according to California-based measurement firm Net Applications. Apple's Safari, which dropped into fourth place for the first time, posted a share of 4.5 percent. The swap in positions came a month earlier than Computerworld 's December prediction, which had been based on a three-month gain-loss trend of the two browsers.

Chrome's December increase of 0.7 of a percentage point, the largest since Google launched the browser in September 2008, may have been partly fueled by the release three weeks ago of beta editions for Mac and Linux.

Although it fell to the No. 4 spot, Safari didn't stand still last month: It picked up 0.1 of a percentage point. Opera Software's flagship browser also gained ground in December, and accounted for 2.4 percent of all browsers used in the month, a record for the Norwegian-made program. However, Mozilla's Firefox lost 0.1 of a percentage point, finishing with 24.6 percent, delaying for at least another month the No. 2 browser's move past the 25 percent milestone.

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