Top 10 most used web browsers

Web browser a tool used to surf internet has played major role in the past internet history. As time passed by many browsers came into existence and some of the famous web browsers are listed below. An user usually looks for a browser which is fast and easy to use. A browser should have the capacity to support almost all file formats also should support language features and many more like flash, PDFs etc. So after referring various sources below is the list of most used web browsers and  people behind their success.


1. Internet Explorer: Internet explorer a part of windows operating system has been into use from August 16, 1995. This is the oldest browser which was initially coded by Thomas Reardon who used source from Spyglass, Inc. Later Microsoft acquired the license from Spyglass. This browser is the top browser used till date. Starting from its first version to the latest developed tenth version it is most loved web browser. Internet explorer 9 has hit the headlines with a news which read that It had 2.35 million downloads in the 24 hours of its launch.
Current Version : Internet Explorer 8 
(9th version also released.)

Thomas Reardon

2. Firefox: An open source browser which ranks second in the most used browsers after internet explorer has come as a full version in November 9, 2004 after completing many beta stages. This browser is a product of Mozilla foundation which is headed by Mitchell Baker who acts as the chair person. This browser was a product of project by Dave Hyatt, Joe Hewitt and Blake Ross which had a change of many names until it acquired Firefox. Now Firefox is currently available with its fourth version.
Current Version : Firefox 4

Mitchell Baker

3. Chrome: Being a product of Google it had got enough of publicity for its launch. As expected it could fairly stand in the list of browsers. This browser successfully mad its way up leaving opera and safari underneath it. If you remember Gmail initially it didn’t had much craze but as time went by it is one of the top email providers. This browser having launched on September 2008 had not took much time in reaching the top third most used web browser. It is also said that founders of Google Larry Page and Sergey Brin hired some of the coders from Mozilla.
Current Version : Chrome 10

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

4. Safari: Apple a company which focuses mainly on quality and also famous for its iphone had developed its own browser Safari. Steve Jobs announced that they have created their own web browser in January 2003 for their Mac OS. Later they also launched it for Microsoft in June 2003. Earlier Apple had a contract with Microsoft regarding usage of Internet explorer in Mac operating system, later switched to their own browser safari. This browser stands fourth in the list of most used web browsers.
Current Version : Safari 5.0.5

Steve Jobs

5. Opera: Opera was a research project started by Telenor a telecommunications company of Norway in 1994 which later emerged as a separate company named Opera Software. This browser was released in 1996 only for Microsoft windows versions. It was programmed by Jon von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsoy. Now it even has a mobile version namely Opera mobile used by many smart phones also developed an operating system namely opera mini. This company is being headed by Hakon Wium Lie who acts as the chief technical officer.
Current Version : Opera 11.10

Jon von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsoy

The Top 10 Most Used Browsers

1 Internet Explorer 8

2 Firefox 3.6

3 Chrome 10

4 Internet Explorer 7

5 Safari 5

6 Firefox 4

7 Chrome 9

8 Internet Explorer 6

9 Firefox 3.5

10 Opera 11

Also look below for stats of web browsers collected from various other sites.

So let us see if more browsers are going to be in this fight. Hope more new features and more new browsers will land soon. Already mobile browsers and browsers for sets using androids are available don't know how the technology is going to be developed in near future. Information provided above is based on the data collected between March and April 2011.