With IE9 finally out of beta, Microsoft has been quick to tell the world why it should plump for its browser over a growing number of sleek rivals. And it seems a fair chunk have been listening, with 2.35 million downloads in the first 24 hours.

In a official blog post, the Big M said that was the equivalent to 27 downloads a second. Impressive, especially as last year’s IE9 beta only managed one million on its first day.

But as Mozilla has been quick to point out, its Firefox 3 still holds the world record for fastest browser downloads, with a whacking 8 million on day one back in 2008. It seems Microsoft still has some way to go to match its big time rival.

IE9 offers hardware acceleration and improved virus protection. Have you downloaded it yet? Let us know what you think on our Facebook and Twitter pages now.

Via Windows Team Blog