Have you ever seen the expression on the face of a kid who has been failing continually and then gets a better percentage, out of the blues? Well Microsoft’s Internet Explorer might paint a similar picture as the browser gained a minute percentage in July.
The fall of IE isn’t a new story and had been happening ever since the advent of Mozilla’s Firefox, specifically. Back in September 2009, IE stood in the browser share market with 65.71% and coming down to 60.32% in June this year with Firefox standing at 23.82%. However it changed in July when the browser’s market share climbed marginally to reach 60.74% while that of Firefox took a dip from 23.81% in June to 22.91%. What the stats mention is obvious that the Internet Explorer has gained in on the shares of Firefox and even Google Chrome which has also taken a plunge from 7.24% to 7.16%. Despite all the recent plunge, the IE continues to be the market leader for various reasons.
I am pretty skeptical about IE, the main reason being that the leading browser was only able to climb to such heights owing to the fact that it started when it was the only web browser. I recall Netscape Navigator, which was one of the worst browsers ever. IE was good until Microsoft axed its own feet by keeping the IE 6 on the web for almost half a decade, there was nothing new coming to it while others in the field kept introducing feature rich browsers. That era of IE6 was exactly that turned off many IE fans and had it not been for big names on the Web like YouTube, etc pulling off support for the IE6. There was of course IE7 which was better at crashing more often, giving an even worse experience to surfers.
I don’t recall when was the last time I actually used the Internet Explorer and why would I if the likes of Firefox, Chrome or even Opera provide me with a rich experience? IE had that trust of users, but it has continually lost it, something which will be hard for it to regain. The other major reason for its massive success and dominance is the fact that it came loaded on all PCs, which had a largest share in the computer market, so its success is rightly credited to the success of Microsoft Windows in my opinion. The current rise shouldn’t be taken a sign of IE’s regeneration, it just a hiccup, one which we will keep witnessing until IE is number two or worst still the number 3 browser.
Despite gaining momentum, Google Chrome adoption is still far behind Firefox's 330 million users!
At the Googleplex this morning, Google vice-president of product management Sundar Pichai started the Google Chrome OS press conference with an update on the search engine Web browser:
Since launch, 14 months ago, 40 million people are now using Google Chrome as their main Web browser. Although this sounds like a big number, it’s not. To put it in perspective, Firefox added 30 million users in 8 weeks last month!
Google Chrome has been updated more than 20 times through seamless auto updates;
Javascript is 38 times faster than Internet Explorer. An important benchmark for Web 2.0 applications that make heavily use of AJAX;
HTML 5 support.
Pichai also mentioned about 3 more announcements that Google will be making by the end of this year regarding Chrome:
Release of the Mac version
and the Linux version;
Release of Extensions, which are similar to plug-ins.
By crossing the billion downloads mark, Mozilla is well on its way to become the dominant Web browser on computer desktops.
But being the #1 Web browser does not appear to be the “be all, end all” goal for the Mountain View non-profit maker of Firefox.
“We don’t have an idea of what the end goal is but… we feel we are successful if the Internet feels vibrant, fun and exciting and still feel relevant to you as an individual.
An oddity at Mozilla: our mission is to bring choice and innovation so having dominant marketshare is not a success condition by definition… so being the monopoly browser is not in the cards for us… but being able to shape the future of the Internet is,” explains Mozilla’s Chief Innovation Officer Chris Beard during a panel discussion at the Lunch 2.0 event hosted today at Kosmix in Mountain View, Calif.
Spearheading Mozilla’s innovation programme, Beard’s mission is to bring more people/volunteers into Mozilla’s design and developing process to help the 200-people organisation build Internet technologies for desktops, mobile, etc.
“Our Mozilla Labs programme where we invite anybody who has an idea for how the Web or the Web experience could be better and to come and participate. From there, we then prototype, then incubate new ideas that potentially become product features or new capabilities for the Web.”
However, Beard was also quick to point out that despite everything that Mozilla does is open, “we do not do design by commitee, we do not vote on what the user interface should be, because that barely works. So we still need to exercise leadership and vision but also figure out how to engage our users.”
On the software patent issue, Beard had this to say: “there’s not a whole lot we can protect, or go after people for stealing. In fact, please come take our stuff, it’s all open source license!”
Here’s a video excerpt (more videos after the jump) where Chris Beard explains his role at Mozilla, as well the reasons behind developing Fennec, Mozilla’s future mobile browser expected to publicly launch in September.
Dean Hachamovitch, the general manager of the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft is not yet worried about the recent security breaches in IE8
After his keynote at the MIX09 conference, I chat with Dean Hachamovitch, the general manager of the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft about the future of Internet Explorer.
First off, Hachamovitch quickly brushed off the idea of adopting the WebKit engine – used in Apple Safari and Google Chrome – to replace the homegrown Trident engine.
The Microsoft executive also touched on the company’s Research Lab Gazelle engine “that is not a replacement for Internet Explorer’s engine but is actually using it.”
Second, despite pushing for smaller “add-ons” for its Accelerator, Web Slices or Visual Search suggestions, Microsoft is not abandoning ActiveX. “ActiveX is still going to be used for super rich applications,” confirms Hachamovitch.
On the latest security issue affecting IE8, Microsoft is still evaluating how the hackers breached the browser’s security and if the hackers made any “assumptions” for their brute force attacks. “I also want to remind you that all the browsers were taken down. It was not just IE8. But also Safari and Firefox,” adds Hachamovitch.
With Presto, users have a quicker access to the Internet and their Windows files
At the Demo conference today, Xandros announced Presto, a downloadable software for Windows Vista and XP that enables new and existing laptops and PCs to boot up in 10 seconds or less.
Presto is a variant of Linux that boots quicker and which comes pre-installed with the Firefox browser, Skype, RealPlayer and even allows users to access data stored in the laptop’s Windows folders.
More applications will be available through Xandros’ Application Store like Google’s Picasa or Adobe’s Acrobat.
From always-on to instant-on
To build Presto, Xandros leveraged its technical expertise gained in creating the platform for the ASUS Eee PC and its experience with Windows to provide seamless access to Windows folders and files.
And unlike rivals like DeviceVM’s Splashtop, Dell’s Latitude ON, Phoenix Technologies’ HyperSpace, IntervalZero, or Corel’s InstantON, Presto doesn’t require a special BIOS or chipset, or any additional hardware upgrade to work.
Moreover, Presto connects to networks over WiFi, 3G, xDSL, LAN and cable.
A beta version will be available from Xandros’ web site on March 16. The full version will be on sale for $19.95 on April 13.
Sundar Pichai, which is behind the successful launch of Google's Chrome Internet browser, explains why Google is joining the fight against Microsoft (credit: niallkennedy)
Google recently announced that it is supporting the European Union antitrust proceedings against Microsoft’s bundling of Internet Explorer into Windows, joining Mozilla (Firefox) and Opera.
Apple which holds an 8 per cent market share is now the only “major” Web browser maker that has not join the fight against Microsoft.
“Google believes that the browser market is still largely uncompetitive, which holds back innovation for users. This is because Internet Explorer is tied to Microsoft’s dominant computer operating system, giving it an unfair advantage over other browsers,” wrote Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president for product management in a blog post.
“The value of competition for users (even in the limited form we see today) is clear: tabbed browsing, faster downloads, private browsing features, and more.”
Microsoft has until March 12 to respond to the EU commission’s objections, which is threatening the software maker with a “significant fine” and may require it to disable Internet Explorer “code” and offer a range of competing browsers in all new PCs, including Mozilla’s Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Opera.
The latest EU investigation stems from a complaint filed in December 2007 by Norwegian browser maker Opera Software.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser now commands 67.55 percent of global browser market share, according to data released by Web metrics company Net Applications today.
Most of the other major browsers like Mozilla’s Firefox (21.53 percent), Apple Safari (8.29 percent) or even Google Chrome (1.12 percent) are gaining shares, except perhaps for Opera’s (0.7 percent).
Looking closer, Internet Explorer 6 share was cut almost by half to 19.21 percent, while Internet Explorer 7 rose slightly to 47.32 percent.
Internet Explorer 8 that just launched last week is faster than its predecessors and has some compatibility enhancements to make loading difficult-to-view sites easier.
Chief development officer, Christen Krogh, overseas Opera's long term strategy
Despite the economic turmoil, Norwegian Internet browser company, Opera Software, still expects to grow 35% to 50% this year again.
“Don’t be surprise, this is the similar kind of growth, both in terms of users and revenues, that we experienced since we started the company in 1995,” explains Opera chief development officer, Christen Krogh in an exclusive interview with TechPulse 360.
Krogh is in Silicon Valley this week from Oslo, Norway, and will attend the much awaited Churchill Club debate on Internet browsers tomorrow.
In his chief development officer role, Krogh is looking for technologies to supplement Opera’s Internet browser functionalities; but also hiring engineers to do customisation and support of the Opera browser for customers like phone carriers, Internet service providers, hardware manufacturers, etc. “The market is exploding. The Internet population is growing fast, as well as the devices connected to the Internet,” adds Krogh.
The Opera browser is available for desktops, smartphones (Opera mobile), standard phones (Opera mini) but also set top boxes, Nintendo Wii and more recently the Nintendo DSi, currently only sold in Japan.
Despite loosing market share, Microsoft Internet Explorer is by far the dominant window to the Net
For the first time in about 10 years, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser market share fell below 70 per cent, ending 2008 with 68 per cent compare to almost 80 per cent 2-years ago.
At the same time, Firefox’s market share rapidly rose from 13.7 per cent to 21.3 per cent while Apple’s Safari browser jumped to almost 8 per cent from 4.7 per cent, according to data collected by Net Applications.
Although Internet Explorer 7 is the current version of Microsoft’s net browser – and IE8 is expected to come out this year – IE6 is still the dominant browser in business environments.
Opera's small Silicon Valley office accommodates a pinball and a sofa (IKEA?). But no ping-pong yet!
Here are some bright news for the folks here in Silicon Valley who have just been laid off from Yahoo, Google, Palm and others.
The small Norwegian company, whose Internet browser competes with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari – on the desktop and the mobile market – is expanding its U.S. headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
Opera Software’s local chief, Rod Hamlin is looking for new offices in the Bay Area to accommodate the new hires; he expects to nearly double the size of the Silicon Valley office to about 40 people.
“We’re looking to hire talented engineers and/or to acquire technology companies to help us work on a sleuth of projects we have,” said Hamlin in a conversation late last week.
Time to brush up those résumés. Anyone else hiring?
Can anyone @IBM fix the WiFi network at #IOD11 ? It's been terrible for the past 2 days and everybody I talked just can't stand it anymore 7 months ago
Have you ever seen the expression on the face of a kid who has been failing continually and then gets a better percentage, out of the blues? Well Microsoft’s Internet Explorer might paint a similar picture as the browser gained a minute percentage in July.
Posted by TechPulse 360 
