Firefox's momentum against Microsoft Internet Explorer is petering out according to browser market share figures released last week by WebSideStory, which reports that Firefox's share has increased from 6.75 percent in April to 7.86 percent in September - just one percentage point in five months - writes InformationWeek. Internet Explorer's market share as of late September was 88.46 percent, down slightly from 88.86 percent in late April.

Much of Firefox's recent gains have apparently come not at IE's expense but other browsers' using Mozilla code and Apple's Safari.

"We always knew there was a finite number of early adopters out there and a finite number of Microsoft haters who would switch to something new," said Geoff Johnston, a WebSideStory analyst.

Both IE and Firefox expect to release updates before the end of the year.