Internet Explorer ends the year on a high, Windows 8 slow to get noticed

Internet Explorer finished 2012 with its highest market share since August 2011. In spite of a few close calls, Firefox maintained its lead over Chrome, holding on to second place for the full year.

Microsoft's browser was virtually unchanged, up 0.01 points at 54.77 percent. Firefox was down 0.62 points at 19.82 percent, dropping below 20 percent for the second time in three months. Chrome was up 0.8 points to 18.04 percent, its first gain since August. Of the also-rans, Safari was down slightly, dropping 0.09 points to 5.24 percent, and Opera was up 0.04 points to 1.71 percent.