Today marks the sixth birthday of the popular web browser Firefox. It was launched on November 9, 2004 as a lightweight and more secure alternative to Internet Explorer 6, which was the dominant browser at the time.

Six years later, and Firefox is now the second most widely used browser with steady growth and 31.5% market share according to StatCounter.

The next major version of Firefox, Firefox 4, was originally scheduled to be launched by the end of 2010 but was recently delayed into early 2011. The new version will bring several important improvements: HTML5 support, redesigned user interface, multi-touch functionality, hardware-accelerated HD video and improved support for add-ons through Jetpack.