Chicago (IL) - Recent updates and media buzz surrounding Safari and Firefox apparently helped the two browser to gain market share at the expense of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, according to a new survey released by Net Applications. Apple’s and Mozilla’s software have been chipping away share from Microsoft’s browser for some time now and it appears that Microsoft could use a convincing new browser rather sooner than later.

There is no immediate concern for Microsoft that the company is losing its dominance in the browser market, but there is certainly a trend that Firefox and Safari are gaining traction. The Internet Explorer still holds a commanding 73.01-percent, according to Net Applications. That number, however, is down 0.74-percent points or about 1-percent from 73.75-percent in May and 74.83-percent in April.

While Microsoft isn’t quite confronted with a landslide loss, Firefox has been gaining steadily over the past quarter and is now approaching the 20-percent market share mark for the first time. Net Applications estimates Firefox’ June market share at 19.03-percent, up 3-percent or 0.62 points from 18.41-percent in May. Firefox was listed at 17.76-percent in April.

Apple’s Safari is also advancing and ranks third with a current share of 6.31-percent, up from 6.25-percent in May and 5.81-percent in April. Opera Software was also able to post some gains as part of the launch of its Opera 9 web browser. Opera is listed with 0.73-percent share, up from 0.71-percent in May and 0.69-percent in April.

Internet Explorer will receive a major update with version 8, which is expected to debut in the fourth quarter. Beta 2 of the browser is planned to be released in August.