Open Source vs. Proprietary: Browsers

The browser wars between proprietary and open source browsers have changed in some ways from the days that it was simply Internet Explorer vs. Netscape. There are more players on both sides of the field, with some interesting complexities.On the proprietary side, still, sits Internet Explorer, now about ready to pop with version 9. It definitely depends on who is gathering the data, but IE has about 44% of the market. This is down significantly from its high point, back in the dark ages of 2005, when it garnered over 90%. It has been dropping steadily since. This drop has been primarily, but not exclusively due to the open source browser, Firefox. More recently, however, two other proprietary browsers, Opera and Safari, have been increasing their own market shares. Now, Opera gets about 2% of the market (up from microscopic some years ago.) Safari, used mainly by Apple Mac users (although there is a Windows version) now gets about 5% of the market.On the open source side, Firefox is certainly the leader, with a bit less than 30% of the market. Chrome, which is sort of an open source browser, is now getting around 14% of the market.ﾠSo what do I mean when I say Chrome is 'sort of an open source browser'? ﾠChromium, is the open source project which results in the browser Chrome - but there are a bunch of additions Google makes to Chrome which are proprietary, and not in the Chromium codebase.So, anyway, basically, between Firefox and Chrome, the open source side is a smidge in the lead over the proprietary side, but it's pretty close to even. And still, the primary reason for the difference is that IE still ships with Windows (and Safari with Mac OS X), and if people don't take the step to download and install another browser if they are a windows user, they will still just be using IE.In the mobile space, things are very interesting. Opera mobile is in the lead, with about 21%, followed by iPhone, Nokia, and Blackberry. These are all proprietary. Bringing up the rear is Android, at 16%. But I'm sure that is going to change as Android begins to gobble up the moble smartphone market share.