Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) IE Drops out of 1st Place in Europe, Mozilla Firefox Takes Lead

Mozilla Inc.'s Firefox has been nibbling away in the browser wars for years against Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and their tenacity has paid off as they've taken over the No.1 spot for browsers in Europe.

That's the first time in a decade that Microsoft hasn't been the No. 1 browser in the region.

According to StatCounter, Firefox had a share of 38.1 percent in Europe for December, while Microsoft's Explorer fell to 37.5 percent.

Globally Microsoft continues to hold a solid lead though, as they hold a 46.9 percent share as of December. Firefox was second with a 30.8 percent share, and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) had 14.9 percent global share.

Microsoft closed Tuesday at $28.09, gaining $0.11, or 0.38 percent.