Microsoft's IE9 Strategy Fails to Produce Results

As the rise of other browsers, like Google Chrome, begin to show, so does the demise of others, namely Internet Explorer. The web browser, designed by Microsoft, continued to lose members last month, losing the largest number of users since December 2010.

During September, Internet Explorer lost nine-tenths of a percentage point of share, dropping to 54.4%, a new record low for the browser. The drop experienced last month was the seventh straight decline and the largest decline since December of last year where Internet Explorer fell by 1.1 points. Causing the decrease was, of course, Google Chrome, which saw shares increase by seven-tenths of a point. Adding to the decline was Apple's Safari browser, which saw an increase of four-tenths of a percentage point.

Chrome ended the month with a 16.2% share with Safari accounting for 5% of all browsers used worldwide. Microsoft, on the other hand, focused on looking at the brighter side by plugging the success of Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7. Head of Internet Explorer's Marketing Roger Capriotti used data from Net Applications to highlight the gains of IE9 by pointing out that the browser version owned 21% global share of browsers running on Windows 7.

Internet Explorer 9 is the second-most popular internet browser on Windows 7 with a 21% compared to Internet Explorer 8's leading 31.6%. Firefox 6 and Chrome 13 came in third and fourth place, respectively, with 13.9% and 13.1%. Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn't outlined an alternate strategy for stopping IE defections. While the focus on Internet Explorer 9 may pay off in the long run, it has failed to slow down the number of defectors heading to Safari, Chrome or Firefox. Since its debut, Microsoft has lost 4 percentage points of share with Internet Explorer 9.

Source: Computer World - Microsoft's IE9-first strategy fails to stem browser slide

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Microsoft Launches Campaign to Kill Internet Explorer 6 for Good

Are you one of those people out there who only uses Internet Explorer for your web browser? If so, then you may also be a part of the large group of people that still uses Internet Explorer 6. Well, if you are one of these people, you have some bad news coming your way. Microsoft has officially launched a new web site that is aimed at increasing its campaign to move internet users off of Internet Explorer 6 forever.

This new site, known as the Internet Explorer 6 Countdown, went live today and is "dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers," according to the site.

A lot of computers, mainly in the business world, continue to use Internet Explorer 6 due to internal-facing apps that are dependent on the 10-year-old, non-standards compliant browser from Microsoft. Thankfully, the web page has links to tools for businesses just like this that are stuck with Internet Explorer 6. Gartner analysts have complained in the past that Microsoft's current tools for moving business users off of Internet Explorer 6 have been far too pricey.

Another feature of the Countdown page includes a world map that highlights countries around the world who still have the most Internet Explorer 6 installations. Right now China holds the number one spot. In addition to focusing on the developer side of the Anti-Internet Explorer 6 campaign, Microsoft officials are also emphasizing the improved security Internet Explorer 6 users can receive from switching to Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8. Internet Explorer 9 is currently in the release candidate stage and is not mentioned on the page as a comparison point.

Source: ZDNet - Microsoft: Friends don't let friends use Internet Explorer

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Browser Wars Heat Up for Microsoft

"I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant...", those were the words of Admiral Isoroku Yamoto after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and it also seems to be the feeling people have toward Microsoft and the company's entrance into the "browser wars" we are seeing today.

Back when Internet Explorer first came out, it was a high performance browser with a lot of useful functions. However, those days were finite, and Microsoft got branded with the reputation of producing crappy browsers, a reputation that IE7 and IE8 did nothing to improve upon.

In 2010, however, a long effort to reactivate the company's browser projects showed promise in IE9. As of right now, the application is still in beta form, but it has already shifted the browser market dramatically.

Internet Explorer 9 supports any and every kind of Web standard including a ton of HTML5 features like built-in video, CSS3 for advanced formatting, professional typography and SVG for smoothly resizable graphical elements. IE9 also speeds up the execution of web-based JavaScript programs. This development did manage to alert browser rivals for one top priority today, hardware acceleration. The software itself is accompanied by a push by the industry where Microsoft is educating Web developers and contributing to the development of standards.

It does appear that it may take a little while before web developers trust that Microsoft is serious about browsers again. It also seems that people still using the ancient IE6 will still be wary of upgrading. One thing is clear, Microsoft is paving the way for a new browser future where web sites as well as web applications become more fluid, interactive, polished and powerful.

In terms of Microsoft, Internet Explorer 9 has come in at exactly the right time. The battle with IE has always been against Firefox, however, Google's Chrome has brought in a new era of fierce competition. I think it is safe to say that Google knows a little something about the internet, and the company has a major agenda of web applications to pursue as well as a big enough presence on the web to allow it to make new technologies relevant by building them into its browser and web site.

Early in 2010 Chrome passed Safari by Apple for third place in the rankings of browser usage, and its growth carried to almost 10% of usage in November. A new phase of Google browser ambition is just taking off as well. The Chrome Web Store, which was designed to promote web-based applications and Chrome OS, allows people to find and purchase nearly any web app they want.

Chrome OS is much more of a departure from existing technology than just a browser. Google only offers it built into hardware. Google has done a good job with Android, but it is still unclear as to how well Chrome OS will fare with consumers and businesses.

Firefox's percentage of browser usage has remained consistently flat for most of 2010 thanks to Chrome. There are big things planned for Firefox 4 including many new features and performance enhancements. The problem is that Mozilla failed to meet a 2010 deadline and has since been pushed into 2011.

Apple's Safari has steadily increased in usage share with a few signs that the Windows version is catching on. Safari has been the principle sponsor of the open-source WebKit project, the same project both Safari and Chrome are based on. However, Google is steadily increasing.

One notable feature of Safari 5 that arrived in July was extensions that have the ability to customize the browser's behavior. Opera, the browser currently ranked 5th, is building them into Opera 11 which is the upcoming version of the browser which will match Chrome and Jetpack, the upcoming browser from Mozilla.

Adobe Systems, maker of Flash Player plug-in, had a particularly difficult year but ended on a good note. Apple, not surprisingly, did not budge on their ban of Flash from iOS devices directly, however, it did relent on blocking an Adobe tool that allows you to convert Flash apps to native apps. Google and Adobe forged an alliance due to the very public fight between Apple and Adobe which resulted in Flash support and promotion within Android.

The browser market combines competition between makers with cooperation as all the companies seek to advance the possibilities that can occur on the web. HTML5 standardization has sprouted emotional clashes between different groups involved as the specification moves more under the control of corporate powers.

The mobile market is also a big challenge to the web. Native software can offer better interfaces as well as faster performance than traditional web apps on mobile devices. However, it is still clear that the web as well as the tools for using it are clearly on the rise.

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