According to data, Internet Explorer has dipped below the 50%-mark in its global share of the Internet browser market. The browser also shows a drop of nearly 10% year over year. This is the first time IE has fallen below the halfway point in market share, and from where we sit, the glass is looking half empty.

This is of course because of the rising popularity of Firefox and Chrome, both of which have seen significant increases in usage in the past few months.

Although Microsoft is coming out with a new browser, IE 9, it may not be enough to reclaim dominance over the market. Now why does this all matter? Well if Firefox and Chrome gain more and more users in the coming years, it could render certain websites (which occasionally don’t work across different platforms) useless. Also, you don’t want to get left out, if everyone else is using a browser that’s better than IE… well let’s just say you might not be the most popular person on the playground.

What do you think: Can Microsoft turn this boat around and bring its browser back? Or is Internet Explorer in all its versions, good, bad and ugly, down for the count?