Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chrome browser has grown steadily in popularity and user adoption, and finally settled at a mere whisker from 10 percent (9.98 percent) of the market share in the month of December. This seemingly trivial slice of the pie belies the fact that the web is used by hundreds of millions today, giving each percentage point an actual user base that is potentially in the millions. 

Even facing a resurgent Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Internet Explorer and more established competitors, such as Mozilla Firefox, Chrome has gained ground every month since its introduction. Chrome's success is a clear testament to the appeal of its minimalist interface and various innovations on the browser front. In contrast, both second-placed Firefox and fifth-placed Opera stayed flat at 22.8 percent and 2.2 percent respectively. The fact that Google Chrome was released just over two years ago makes this milestone all the more amazing.

To complete the picture: Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) Safari grew slightly to 5.6 percent, while IE dipped to 57.1 percent--its lowest in recent years.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at CNET News
- check out this chart at Net Applications

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