Microsoft did make a push into the market with the new Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) release. While IE8 did show a 1.6% gain, browser users still appear reticent to adopt the new product, clinging to Internet Explorer 7 at +0.2%. Only Internet Explorer 6 saw a 1.5% decline in usage, possibly revealing that IE8′s gains were most likely a direct result of Microsoft user upgrades than actual market gain.

This Microsoft branding confusion just makes matters worse for web designers and marketers alike. With three browsers now on the market, Microsoft is creating a mess of compatibility problems. The multiple platforms create massive headaches for anyone designing websites and trying to devise marketing solutions for web surfers. The future release of Windows 7 should help in this regard.

Google’s Chrome browser continued its rise in the ranks. Now at 7.1% usage, Chrome has more than doubled its share of the market in a year’s time.