Microsoft IE usage falls below 50%

For more than a decade, Microsoft's Internet Explorer has been the predominant tool the world uses to connect to the Web, but that's no longer true, according to a Web analytics firm.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/06/tech...dex.htm?hpt=T2

What gives?

I am one of the defectors from Internet Explorer. For years, like numerous other consumers, I was shackled to Microsoft's bloated browser, with little to no alternatives available at the time, other than Netscape.

Then Mozilla burst on to the scene with their Firefox browser, which had a simplistic GUI layout, improved navigational features, a variety of addons to enhance usability, and most importantly, the absence of dangerous ActiveX components that compromised security - all of which made Internet Explorer pale in comparison. The "Mighty Goliath" Microsoft browser had finally met its match.

Glad to know that people are gradually realizing that there is much more available for browsing today, than just Internet Explorer. I hope the trend continues.

Netscape was the original browser which Microsoft nearly put out of business by giving away IE and actually bundling it in their OS. This monopoly where Microsoft tried to crush other browsers is the main reason that in Europe Microsoft is required to offer Windows 7 N which is their OS without IE encased into it.

Kids today probably never even heard of Netscape but luckily they have other options than IE, such as FireFox, Chrome, & Opera to name a few.

I did. They used to be the first ever web browser. Microsoft blackmailed them, etc...

I use IE9 for everyday browsing, FF4 for more advanced websites (Facebook always crashes IE) and FF3.6 for Website Debugging.

Microsoft stole most of Netscape's technology and such. I believe there was a lawsuit over it.

I liked Netscape, it was far better browser than IE was in those days. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Mozilla and FF are the brainchilds of some former Netscape people.

As I recall it, as Netscape was in it's final days, they encouraged it's users to adapt to Firefox. That's what I read when looking up Netscape recently.

Now, as to why IE even holds on to the lead that they do, is MS includes IE in all Windows releases, and has done so since at least as far back as Win 95. Funny thing, they (MS) can't seem to include MSE in their OS, but can continue to find a way to include IE.

But just like the Windows Backup, defrag tool, disc cleaner, Windows Media Player, and so on, just because it's there, doesn't mean that all of Windows users are using IE. In fact, you can "turn off" IE now, and can still receive updates through Windows Update. You can "turn it off" at the same place where you can turn on or off other Windows Features, such as games, etc.

Click Start, type "Turn Windows features on or off", there will be a box displayed, IE is among the top of the list of choices to choose from. If you want to "turn off" IE8, uncheck the box beside of IE. Be sure to click OK before closing.

Because of the fact that IE is embedded into the OS, there's no 100% accurate way to determine IE usage. However, the facts suggests that their competition, most notably Firefox & Chrome, are gaining ground, and it could be only at the expense of IE.

If only US consumer groups would bring themselves together, and file suit, like the EU did, IE would stop being force fed to us, and then the world would really see whether IE could stand on it's own or not. My guess is that it would rapidly sink, almost as fast as Vista has.

And the sooner this happens, the better it would be for all. There would be a level playing field for all browsers to compete upon, each user could install the browser of their choice, and then we would really see which is on top, and which one(s) are history.

Cat

Netscape Navigator as I recall was it's full name with a ships wheel as it's icon.

Its been along time since I have seen this window.

I used to have an install disk or maybe it was floppies for NN. Pity I tossed them out, I wonder if it would have still worked had I loaded it.

For nostalgia's sake, you can still download these archived Netscape Navigator releases. I believe that 9.0.0.6 was the last version. Not sure if they'll run on on your XP Pro SP3 OS, but you can always try if you're interested in seeing if they'll work.

http://browser.netscape.com/releases