Two years ago, the battle was between Internet Explorer and Netscape, and Internet Explorer was winning.
  These days, it's between traditional browsers like Internet Explorer and Netscape and non-browser applications such as instant messaging and media players for accessing the web.
   The fight has already been won.
   According to Nielsen//NetRatings, three out of every four users--76 percent--access the internet with non-browser applications like AOL Instant Messenger and RealPlayer to have instant access to online communication tools.
   “It's become harder to distinguish when you're on the internet, blurring the lines between what's sitting on the desktop and what's coming from the world wide web,” says Abha Bhagat, senior analyst for Nielsen//NetRatings.
   Among those users, the top five internet applications were media and instant messaging applications, including 34.4 percent who used Windows Media Player and 20.3 percent who used AOL Instant Messenger. RealOne/RealPlayer was used by 19.8 percent of users, followed by MSN Messenger Service with 19.3 percent and Yahoo! Messenger Service with 12.3 percent.
   Nielsen//NetRatings did not provide numbers on browser applications, but their usage has fallen off somewhat.
   Bhagat says the popularity of these applications is driven by the appeal of instant communication.
   “The proliferation of internet applications combined with the popularity of high-speed connections means people are always connected to the internet,” she says.
  Besides chatting with friends, she says, media players and instant messaging enable people to send documents without email, watch webcasts and conduct live meetings.
   However, when it comes to information gathering and research on products and shopping online, Bhagat says traditional internet applications like Internet Explorer and AOL are still the way to go.
   The report says 106 million total unique users accessed the internet in November, up 11 percent from the same period in 2003.