Microsoft may be taking a measured risk with its decision to exclude Windows XP systems from its Internet Explorer 9 browser update.

Research firm Net Applications said in its most recent browser market share report that the company could be banking on a flow of updates from Windows XP to Windows 7 to sustain its lead in the web browser space.

Microsoft released IE9 earlier this month, notifying users that the update would not be compatible with systems running the older but still popular Windows XP. Mozilla, meanwhile, released Firefox 4 with Windows XP compatibility and in early downloads the Firefox browser surpassed IE9.

According to Net Applications, the March browser market share had Internet Explorer 8 claiming 51.57 per cent of the market, followed by Firefox 3.6 with a 19.53 per cent share of the market.

IE 9 accounted for a 3.56 per cent share of the market, while Firefox 4 claimed a 2.80 per cent share of the market.

Net Applications executive vice president of marketing and strategic alliances Vincent Vizzaccaro told V3.co.uk that going forward, Microsoft will bank on users upgrading from Windows XP to stick with the Internet Explorer platform rather than convert to Firefox.

"In the end, Microsoft is betting that XP users will upgrade in large numbers to Windows 7 or later versions in the not too distant future. That, of course, is a safe bet," said Vizzaccaro.

"They are also betting that those users will at least initially try the latest version of Internet Explorer, and market share indications are that is also a safe bet."

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