A much-discussed development in the browser world is the recent breakout performance by Google Chrome, which averaged the highest traffic share for a full seven days for the first time.

 

StatCounter, a company that offers free real-time analysis of visitors to websites, declared Google Chrome the most-used browser in the world. Chrome's share of the market rose to 32.8 percent in the week ending May 20, while Internet Explorer's share of the market dropped to 31.9 percent. Google's browser had previously bested Explorer, but just for a day back in March.

 

However, in North America, Internet Explorer is ahead of Chrome, at 37 percent to 26 percent. StatCounter calculates browser popularity on the basis of 15 billion page views a month using tracking code installed on more than three million websites. South America takes Chrome's worldwide lead with 50 percent of share, according to The Verge, a technology-focused news publication.

 

FierceCIO, a news source for IT best practices, business intelligence, and IT Security, has theorized that the continued dominance of Internet Explorer in North America – despite its declining popularity due not only to Chrome, but Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari as well – could be attributed to corporate workstations that are not upgradable or to older applications that require specific versions of Internet Explorer to function.

 

Brian O'Connell, founder of CPA Site Solutions, recommends that accountants use one of the three major browsers – Chrome, Explorer, or Firefox – because they all protect against phishing, malware, and pop-ups. They scan for viruses and provide a warning when the user is about to click on a suspicious site. However, he says to make sure to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, as previous versions are not safe.

 

Tim Beyers of The Motley Fool, looks at Chrome's popularity as "a buy signal." He writes, "Mac users are using Chrome at least as much as (or perhaps even more than) Apple's native browser. And that's what makes Chrome's rise so interesting – a buy signal, even. Safari is a good browser. It's fast, it's as secure as peers, and it does a terrific job of rendering video. Why would any Mac user choose Chrome? Because Google's browser is always going to be better at running the code that makes Google's various apps function." 

 

CPA Practice Advisor says that when choosing a browser to use, think about its features, security, east of use, and support.