Firefox launched five years ago today

Mozilla's web browser Firefox celebrate its fifth birthday today.

The browser was first released on November 9 2004, when most web users relied on Microsoft's Internet Explorer to access the web.

However, now according to figures web metrics company Net Applications, Mozilla's browser accounts for 24 percent of all browsers worldwide.

The browser was created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross and was originally called Phoenix, which was then changed to Firebird, before Mozilla opted for Firefox.

The software company released unveiled a beta version of Firefox 3.6, the latest update to its web browser.

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See also: Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5 update fixes crash bug