Web designers around the world, it’s time to celebrate: Last month, Internet Explorer’s share of global browser usage fell below 50% for the first time in more than a decade. Your long nightmare of having to make things work for people who still use IE6 is a little bit closer to coming to an end.
Microsoft’s iconic browser can still claim desktop browser victory, with 52.63% of desktop users still using IE, but as desktop internet usage competes with mobile devices, the browser landscape is beginning to shift more quickly. In terms of all internet browsing, IE has fallen to 49.58%, its lowest share since 1999 and a significant drop from its 2004 high of 95%.
(MORE: That ‘Internet Explorer Users Are Dumber’ Study? Bogus)
The fall seems to be a result of Google’s Chrome browser, which rose to 17.62% of desktop browser share, with Firefox staying static at 22.51% and Apple’s Safari barely shifting towards 5.43%. Safari fares much better in mobile devices, leading the pack as it trends toward 65% share in mobile.
Admittedly, a 49.58% share still makes IE the world’s dominant browser by any measure, but with IE adoption falling on a month-to-month basis, it’s safe to say that—barring any worldwide technological disaster that destroys technology created in the last six years—the internet is slowly becoming a safer place for those who still remember how horrible IE6 was.
MORE: Amazon Starts Selling Ads Based on Your Browsing History
Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.