Apache has overtaken Microsoft as the leading developer of secure web servers. Apache now runs on 44.0% of secure web sites, compared to 43.8% for Microsoft.

As the original developers of the SSL protocol, Netscape started out with a lead in the SSL server market. But they were soon overtaken by Microsoft's Internet Information Server, which within a few years held a steady 40-50% of the SSL server market.

Apache has taken much longer to reach the top. Version 1 of Apache did not include SSL support. Now that mod_ssl is included as standard in version 2, Apache has become more popular for hosting secure websites.

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