Mozilla Firefox Reaches 20 Percent of Browser Market, Introduces Porn Mode

Firefox, the open source browser, has just reached 20 percent for the first time ever, in its perpetual battle for market share with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

According to Net Applications, which like so many, monitors browser adoption based on data collected from thousands of websites, the landmark was reached at the beginning of October but dropped marginally by the end of that month.

Analysts say that Google Chrome might have wooed a few Firefox users although its share of the market fell from 0.74 to 0.78 percent but is still neck to neck with Opera.

But Internet Explorer still dominates the landspace with more than 71 percent of the market although "sophisticated users" (dixit Readwriteweb) tend to stick more with Firefox.

Safari is still number three at 6.57 percent, a slight dip from September but a full 18 percent increase year on year.

Today also marks the release of Firefox 3.1 Beta 2, which has introduced a feature similar to Google's Chrome "Incognito" and ensures that the user's privacy is safe during browsing sessions.

Safari and Internet Explorer 8 have already adopted this popular browsing mode.