IE8 finally knocks IE6 from browser top spot

Microsoft's troubled - and old - Internet Explorer 6 has finally been knocked off the top of the browser rankings, according to Net Applications stats.

IE8, the latest version of Internet Explorer, now holds 22.31 per cent of the market, compared to IE6's 20.07 per cent.

Users have been warned to upgrade their IE browser after a series of flaws became apparent in the nearly decade old IE6 - including the vulnerability that led to Google being hacked.

Yesterday, the Department of Health warned NHS staff to avoid IE6, while the governments of Germany and France have told citizens to upgrade or switch.

The third most used browser version was Firefox 3.5 with 17.10 per cent, followed by IE7 at 14.58 per cent.

Overall, the group of IE browsers lead the market with 62.18 per cent, followed by Firefox with 24.41 per cent share in January. Both slid slightly, contributing to Google's Chrome browser climbing from a 4.63 per cent share in December to 5.20 per cent in January.

Safari and Opera also post slight declines, down to 4.51 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively, according to Net Applications.

Operating systems

Last month was also a breakthrough month for Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. Launched in October, it broke the 10 per cent market share mark on the last day of January, the stats firm said.

NetApps noted that the much-maligned Vista took seven months to break just four per cent market share, so Windows 7 is taking off much more quickly.

Read on for our review of Windows 7.