A new survey by Net Applications shows a steady increase in the market share (not to be confused with browser usage) of Mozilla Firefox and more importantly, a surge in the usage of the Apple Safari web browser. The two web browser software have been chipping away share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer (MSIE) and it appears that Microsoft could use a convincing new browser rather sooner than later.

According to the survey, Internet Explorer (all versions together) still holds a 73.01 per cent market share, which is down by 1 per cent from 73.75 per cent in May and 74.83 per cent in April. While this growth of web-browser software against MSIE cannot be regarded as an upsurge just as yet, the growth of Apple Safari against other MSIE-alternatives is close to being called so. The Apple browser with a current share of 6.31%, up from 5.81% in April, has long overtaken Opera which was once considered the best alternative to MSIE and since early days believed in platform-diversity to gain market share.With inputs from TG Daily

After the release of Opera Mini for mobile phones two days ago, the Opera Software team today released Opera 9.27 for desktop PCs. Version 9.27 is a recommended security and stability upgrade for all Opera users. Changes in the web browser since Opera 9.26 include fixed BitTorrent transfer stability issue, solved stability issues with the Acid 3 test and some additional stability fixes you can read about here. Download Opera 9.27.

It looks like Opera's development team has done a good job of improving the browser's compatibility, as it has now managed to achieve an impressive score of 100 out of 100 on the Acid3 web standards test. Opera Software's Head of Core Technology, Lars Erik Bolstad, wrote:

Since the test was officially announced recently, our Core developers have been hard at work fixing bugs and adding the missing standards support. Today we reached a 100% pass rate for the first time! There are some remaining issues yet to be fixed, but we hope to have those sorted out shortly.

Some readers may already be familiar with the Web Standards Project, which claims it "fights for standards that reduce the cost and complexity of development while increasing the accessibility and long-term viability of any site published on the Web." The Acid Tests provided by the project are commonly used as a benchmark to see how compatible different browsers are, and Internet Explorer has found itself on the end of much criticism when it comes to this, being beaten by nearly all competing browsers such as Opera, Firefox, Safari and Konqueror. However, in the recently launched Acid Test 3, the ancient Internet Explorer 5.5 manages to outscore both IE 6 and 7, reaching a still rather miserable 14% compared to 12% for the other two. Meanwhile, Konqueror leads the pack with 62%, with Firefox in fourth on 52% and Opera a little way down the table at 46%, ahead of Safari on 39%. In terms of beta browsers, Safari is well out in front on 90%, and IE 8 trails at the bottom on 17%.

Opera Software has updated its web browser, taking it to version 9.25. The changes from the last release (9.24) are as follows:

• Fixed an issue where plug-ins could be used to allow cross domain scripting, as reported by David Bloom.
• Fixed an issue with TLS certificates that could be used to execute arbitrary code, as reported by Alexander Klink (Cynops GmbH).
• Rich text editing can no longer be used to allow cross domain scripting, as reported by David Bloom.
• Prevented bitmaps from revealing random data from memory, as reported by Gynvael Coldwind.
• Fixed a problem where malformed BMP files could cause Opera to temporarily freeze.

You can download the browser from here.

Opera Software, best known for its free web browser, has filed an antitrust lawsuit against software giant Microsoft for abusing its dominant position by integrating its Internet Explorer web browser into Windows. Opera, which filed the lawsuit in the EU, is asking the European Commission to force Microsoft to unbundle Internet Explorer from Windows or include other browsers as standard. It is also claiming that Microsoft is not following accepted standards for Internet Explorer and is calling for it to adhere to them. Opera's Deputy General Counsel, Jason Hoida, said:

Our complaint is necessary to get Microsoft to amend its practices. The European Court of First Instance confirmed in September that Microsoft has illegally tied Windows Media Player to Windows. We are simply asking the Commission to apply these same, clear principles to the Internet Explorer tie, a tie that has even more profound effects on consumers and innovation. We are confident that the Commission understands the significance of the Internet Explorer tie and will take the necessary actions to restore competition and consumer choice in the browser market.

Some people may remember that Microsoft was forced to sell a modified version of Windows XP which excluded Windows Media Player back in 2004 after complaints about that being integrated into Windows, which was a similar case to this.

Opera Software just finished the version 9.20 of its popular browser. The new main feature is Speed Dial, the fastest and easiest way to access your favorite sites. Speed Dial allows you to transform your top nine sites into visual favorites that are immediately available in any new tab. Of course the new version comes with the famous BitTorrent downloading support, the possibility to customize your own search engine and the Widgets, Small Web applications (multimedia, newsfeeds, games and more) that make your desktop experience more fun.Download your version over here: Opera Download Website