New Firefox Browser Enjoys Massive Downloads

The new Mozilla browser Firefox 3 was downloaded more than 8 million times in its first day of availability, a figure that may spark a Guinness title if the record keepers certify that new category. At its peak, the Firefox site was giving away 17,000 copies of the free software per minute, the AP reports.

Users in 200 countries logged on for downloads; the leaders were the US, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Britain. The release was delayed at first as consumers clogged the site’s servers; it was then slow or unusable for hours. The new browser allows users to organize their top websites better and blocks access to virus-distributing URLs. Internet Explorer continues to lead Firefox for most users total. (More Firefox stories.)