The Wal-Mart of computing slips a bit more

Firefox brower use is now about 13 percent of the total, with IE down to about 83 percent globally. And, Microslob is less liked elsewhere than here.

Usage rates for IE and Firefox in Canada and the U.K. are similar to the U.S. statistics. But in Australia, Firefox is much more popular and is used by 24.23 percent of Web surfers. Microsoft’s IE is used by 69.35 percent of Australian surfers, according to the study. In Germany, Firefox is even more popular: 39.02 percent of surfers there use it, compared with 55.99 percent who use IE.

Combine that with the European Union smacking Microslob with millions of euros in new fines for its deliberate foot-dragging in addressing the software bundling issue, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer company, at least this side of Wal-Mart.