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I hope they sue Microsofts' asses off for restraint of trade and tortious interference with business relationships.

I, too, learned some big words this week. I didn't feel compelled to strut them about incorrectly in public, though.

Back in the real world Microsoft isn't required to do business with anyone they don't want to, barring a short list of explicitly banned reasons for doing so. They certainly aren't a duopoly as they still have less than 5% of the search market.

Are you also against Google dropping ads from payday loans? Or was it from comments on that story that you learned words like "tortious interference", and now you're trotting them out over here to sound clever and contrarian?

" which show OSX doing very well in the North American market"

Maybe, until you look at this chart which seems to indicate something else. http://gs.statcounter.com/#des...

The bar chart clarifies things. Windows down a tick. OSX up a tick. Linux flat-lined as always. Desktop Top Operating System Share Trend

More revealing, perhaps, are the numbers from Statcounter, which show OSX doing very well in the North American market, at 17.5%. Top 7 Desktop OSs in North America from Apr 2015 to Mar 2016

Statcounter doesn't break out stats for Linux, which is perhaps just as well.

The latest browser usage stats show that Firefox has only about 7% of the market.

You mean some browser usage stats. Other usage stats show Firefox at 10% of the market, at 14.31%, and at 17.8%.

Granted, that chart you linked was garbage since it explained little, but had you gone through and clicked on who they got their stats from you will find what you quoted to be very off the mark.
Site: http://gs.statcounter.com/

Firefox has been dropping, but very slowly and it's still pretty consistent at around 15% or so of the market, Most of Chrome's growth has been at the hands of other browsers, I.E. in particular. The odds of Vivaldi making a significant dent in Firefox is small, it's more likely to cannibalize Chrome and everyone else.

And Mozilla is concerned, and they should be. Personally, I think they should have fired several developers YEARS ago. The growing number of forks, 64bit and UI, should have been good indications they were doing something wrong. Which leads back to Chrome as well, yes, Chrome is growing, however, some of that could also be forks, since there is enough of them, but why are there so many? I have yet to see a Chrome fork that actually makes things any better.

As soon as Apple lets me run Safari or even OSX on my expensive hardware (superior to anything they currently sell), then I'll give a shit about their niche of a niche web browsers.

First off, we both know you're making this up. Second, on mobile Safari accounts for a fourth of all browser usage and is second only to Chrome (at about one third of all traffic). Any dev who ignores Safari - and therefore the most profitable mobile platform - in 2016 would soon find themselves unemployed.

Windows 10 surpassed XP back in October.

It has now passed every OS other than Windows 7.

So.... what are the reasons for 98.5% of the population not using Linux on the desktop? It's certainly not the price. Is it really all just catch-22, no users so no apps, no apps so no users?

Your site presents, what may be, the absolute worst representation of data that I have ever seen. It also appears to be inaccurate, but that may just be due to the it being illegible.

The site states that it sources its information from StatCounter's Global Stats. StatCounter's representation of the data is clear, concise and easy to understand.

Stat Counter also says that Firefox is 14.72% of the market in November of 2015.

OK, so Windows 10 is free for about 65% or more of the existing user base. That is a lot of people.

http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-...

I think that the relatively low, now almost flat adoption rate for Windows 10 is that people don't like the 2D interface. Plus, it is not as stable as Windows 7 and it has crap stuck on the start menu that you need to fiddle with to get rid of. It also has more "telemetry" built in. None of the so-called improvements are particularly useful (Cortana is a great example). It seems dumbed down so that it will work on mobile devices. I think that is why there is a market for the older version that has more features (Windows 7 Ultimate), which doesn't have all the downsides.

and still more people use XP than any version of windows except 7

Actually this isn't true. Windows 10 surpassed XP this month.

Oh dear, Linux as always in the 1% category despite all the loud shouting and evangelism and the constant stream of articles about how every organisation in the world is converting to Linux!

What do they think moving to Win 10 will be like?

A piece of cake?

In Steam's August Hardware and Software Survey,16% of Steam gamers were running 64 Bit Win 10, a bare 0.92% Linux. Steam Hardware and Software Survey: August 2015

Worldwide usage of Windows 10 in its first calendar month (August) was 4.9% compared to 1% for Windows 8 and 4.1% for Windows 7 after their first complete month.

Windows 10 first month worldwide usage well ahead of that recorded by Windows 8

and another empty threat. you'll be on windows 10 in a few years, you'll see.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaa!

And sometimes it's just an empty threat. Three reasons I can't switch, I got plenty more. Or rather, I did use Linux as my primary desktop like 2007-2010, it worked more or less but I always needed a gaming box so consolidating some hardware I decided to just run Windows 7. I hoped that by now it'd reach more of the mainstream but no, from July 2008 to August 2015 it's gone from 0.84% to 1.5% desktop market share. Steam got less than 1% Linux users. Those who think they see a shift in the market towards Linux are deluding themselves. Most people who run Windows today will run Windows 5 years from now and with Win7 running out of support most people will upgrade then, if not now.

what kind of "market share" is this? the article itself links this as the usage market share source http://gs.statcounter.com/#bro... (at the bottom of the atricle) however, the statistics there state that chrome has 47% market share, while ie has 20%

FTFA:

Net Applications uses data captured from 160 million unique visitors each month by monitoring some 40,000 websites for its clients. This means it measures user market share. If you prefer usage market share, you’ll want to get your data from StatCounter, which looks at 15 billion page views.

So Net Applications counts the number of users who use it, whereas StatCounter counts the number of uses (i.e. page hits). The difference you see with Internet Explorer being "overcounted" shows that it occupies a long tail of many users who don't browse the web very often, whereas heavy web users prefer Chrome so it gets "undercounted".

StatCounter stats are below, for desktop and combined (desktop+phone+tablet+console):

http://gs.statcounter.com/#des...
http://gs.statcounter.com/#mob...

FTFA:

Net Applications uses data captured from 160 million unique visitors each month by monitoring some 40,000 websites for its clients. This means it measures user market share. If you prefer usage market share, you’ll want to get your data from StatCounter, which looks at 15 billion page views.

So Net Applications counts the number of users who use it, whereas StatCounter counts the number of uses (i.e. page hits). The difference you see with Internet Explorer being "overcounted" shows that it occupies a long tail of many users who don't browse the web very often, whereas heavy web users prefer Chrome so it gets "undercounted".

StatCounter stats are below, for desktop and combined (desktop+phone+tablet+console):

http://gs.statcounter.com/#des...
http://gs.statcounter.com/#mob...

http://gs.statcounter.com/

http://www.w3counter.com/globa...

Actual web usage: Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet stats for the last 5 years... and various browser penetrations over time

Actual web usage: Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet stats for the last 5 years... and various browser penetrations over time

Yep. Global stats agrees with you: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mob...

But not worldwide: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mob...

Yep. Global stats agrees with you: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mob...

But not worldwide: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mob...

No, only 90% of computer has Windows. There must be a lack of experience out there.

http://gs.statcounter.com/#des...

July 2014: 9.78%

I don't like the posting of netmarketshare as gospel especially when they adjust their data, but quoting wikipedia as a measure is simply spinning figures in a "I don't even give a fuck about reality way" A quick look at statcounter shows firefox usage slightly down http://gs.statcounter.com/#bro... and at 18%. Netshare shows firefox slightly down at http://marketshare.hitslink.co... as 15%. Not a million miles from each other, but the trends basically show firefox usage is pretty flat. Even these figures are less of a reflection of how badly firefox is doing, but how well chrome is.

Yeah, "Safari" and "Opera" are such more functional names for a Web browser than "Konqueror".

They aren't better names

If you seriously think I was suggesting that they were better names, you really need to go get your sarcasm detector re-calibrated.

and that is reflected in the fact that nobody uses them.

Presumably by "nobody uses them" you mean "nobody uses those browsers", and by "nobody uses" you mean "most people don't use".

However, you have not demonstrated that there is any connection between the lower market share for those browsers and their choice of name.

Much of Safari's lower market share may be due to its low market share on Windows, an OS to which it was a latecomer and may never have had a chance to be a contender.

You've just weakened your own argument with that statement.

You've just demonstrated that you don't even understand the argument by everything you've said here.

The number one web browser is still Internet Explorer.

According to NetMarketShare, but not according to StatCounter or W3Counter.

(And the statistics for mobile browsers are a bit different.)

You forgot to mention that IE version 7 (specifically) is the most popular version of IE, followed closely by IE 8. The most popular version of the browser isn't even officially supported by Microsoft anymore.

That is a major problem.

Say what?

For some reason the Statcounter link messed up the time period, this is the last 3 months.

You forgot to mention that IE version 7 (specifically) is the most popular version of IE, followed closely by IE 8. The most popular version of the browser isn't even officially supported by Microsoft anymore.

That is a major problem.

Say what?

I've been building dynamic content heavy web applications that scale to any resolution for over 10 years and while I can admit that IE 6 and 7 were GARBAGE I see only minor issues with later versions and have yet to encounter issues with version 10 and 11. In my experience those who have lots of cross browser issues write poor html and css. In my first 2-3 years of making web applications I made many mistakes and learned how to properly use markup and css.

If you have to support old browsers of any making I very much feel for you. Because I am in control of what technology is used it's easier for me to tell customers what the minimum requirements are. I use the following link to determine what I consider reasonable to support. As you can see IE6 and 7 aren't on the list (Thank god). http://gs.statcounter.com/#bro...

I hope this helps a couple of web app developers out there.

they need a new database to store all their information for the kids, and to help the funding organizations like UNICEF. The charity [has] a few computers running Windows 7. Being a die-hard OSS geek I'm more inclined to knock up a MySQL backend with a Django front-end and run the whole thing from a reliable VPS. But it needs to be understandable by the non-geeks in the charity--- there is no IT expertise here

You might better begin by asking what local sponsors and organizations like UNICEF are using. What support they can offer. If Windows and MS Office are the de facto standards here, you may need to rethink your priorities.

That the charity is running Win 7 is a significant clue. Top 7 OSs in Senegal

a MySQL backend with a Django front-end and run the whole thing from a reliable VPS

Does this really sound to you like something anyone but a geek would understand and be able to maintain?

By the numbers, lots of people buy Android tablets, but don't use them very much for either web browsing or applications.

For example, if you look at http://gs.statcounter.com/#tab... Safari is 67.7% of mobile browsing activity, while Android is 15.4% and Chrome (runs on both iOS and Android) is 10.5%. Even though by sales reports Android devices are outselling iOS by wide margins.

Similarly, http://www.forbes.com/sites/ew... is just one example of numerous developers seeing iOS downloads and revenue vastly (10x) outpacing Android.

I can't say why, but I imagine that Google is hard at work trying to figure out why Android users don't browse or use apps the way iOS users do. I used to think that it was market segmentation - people who have money to buy apps have money to buy iOS devices, and people with no money buy cheaper, Android devices. But these days there are high-end Android tablets that are as expensive as iPads, and of course web browsing is free, but people still aren't using either apps or browsing. It also doesn't explain why free apps on Android don't do well.So perhaps it's usability?

http://gs.statcounter.com/faq#...

http://gs.statcounter.com/faq#...

http://gs.statcounter.com/faq#...

http://gs.statcounter.com/faq#...

Old data is old, Android is up to 24% globally, and 35% in Asia and the trend lines are pretty obvious.

Old data is old, Android is up to 24% globally, and 35% in Asia and the trend lines are pretty obvious.

I don't think Microsoft can rely on the customer being "stuck" with Win8 and MS Office much longer, according to StatCounter mobile is now 24%, tablets 6% and the desktop only 70% of web browsing. Subtract a few percent for Mac/Linux and more than one in three is no longer using Windows to browse the web. Of course web browsing != general computing but people are going to want solutions for the devices they're using, if there's an app for it they'd probably rather use that than haul out their laptop. I guess most of those 30% have a PC they could use if they wanted to, but I'm not sure casual users will in the future. I think the "PC-less" digital life is quickly becoming possible and that significant parts of the population will find they don't really need a PC. Microsoft has the enterprise by the balls, consumers much less so.

The actual desktop share for Linux in the US is around 2% by most measures... so the while grandfather might have been off 5x, you were off by 10x... http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-...

IE, as of about version 9, is on par with other major browsers in terms of security. It only gets more publicity because, let's face it, it's IE, and still the most widely used browser.

It depends on who you ask.

http://gs.statcounter.com/ shows Chrome clearly in the lead.
http://www.w3counter.com/globa... also shows chrome leading.
Wikimedia says Chrome leads http://stats.wikimedia.org/wik...

Just because its common doesn't mean its used. And you don't see these stories about Firefox or Chrome, at least not many. And given the market share that Chrome enjoys you would expect to see many more stories.

You've fallen for the old Microsoft lie:
They insist We are attacked because we are popular.
The real story is they are attacked because they are easy targets.

The current story doesn't say that IE has a huge number of users, it says it is the most prevalent browser. That can only align with having 10% market share if all competing browsers have less than 10% share.

I'd like to point out that the article you're referring to was only about w3schools -- ie. for web-developers and the likes. It was a totally ridiculous way of measuring browser market-share and a thinly-veiled attempt at mocking IE. http://gs.statcounter.com/ provides a much better measure and as you can see, IE is still 2nd up there. On any website that's actually used by Average Jane and Joe IE shows up much higher than "single-digit" numbers.

So your numbers are base 24?

Yep, this story is complete bullshit. Just more haters trying to latch on to any morsel that casts a bad light on Microsoft.

http://gs.statcounter.com/#des...

The statistics are "collected from W3Schools' log-files..." So an English-language site for people interested in web development is now considered an accurate proxy for browser usage? I think not. Predictably, the results are way out of line with, well, pretty much everyone:

http://www.netmarketshare.com/...
http://gs.statcounter.com/
http://www.w3counter.com/globa...
http://browsermarketshare.com/
http://clicky.com/marketshare/...

StatCounter's 12/2013 data shows IE being at 24.91%.

Because while Androids outsell Apple 4:1 or more, there's a very strange thing going on. Mobile web traffic has iOS using TWICE the amount of data over Android. Or, put another way, 1 iOS user consumes as much data as 8 Android users.

No it doesn't. Android mobile web traffic is about 2x that of iOS mobile web traffic and pulling ahead. iOS still has a huge lead in tablet web traffic, but tablet + mobile web traffic Android passed iOS last year and is pulling ahead at a pretty fast clip (iOS is losing both phone and tablet web traffic share).

There are three big companies which monitor web traffic. Statcounter (which I've linked), W3Counter, and Netmarketshare. The latter two are frequently cited by Apple fans because they show iOS in the lead. What they don't tell you is that the latter two count unique visitors in a month, not web traffic. That is, in their statistics someone who visits a site once a month counts as much as someone who visits the site every day. Statcounter counts actual web visits, which is what corresponds to web data. It shows Android pretty clearly in the lead.

So the way it breaks down is:

• People who never browse the web on their phones are mostly on Android.
• People who occasionally browse the web on their phones are mostly on iPhones.
• People who browse the web a lot on their phones are mostly on Android. Despite having roughly half the number of people browsing the web as iPhones, they generate twice as much web traffic. i.e. They use the web 4x as much as the typical iPhone user who uses the web.

Because while Androids outsell Apple 4:1 or more, there's a very strange thing going on. Mobile web traffic has iOS using TWICE the amount of data over Android. Or, put another way, 1 iOS user consumes as much data as 8 Android users.

No it doesn't. Android mobile web traffic is about 2x that of iOS mobile web traffic and pulling ahead. iOS still has a huge lead in tablet web traffic, but tablet + mobile web traffic Android passed iOS last year and is pulling ahead at a pretty fast clip (iOS is losing both phone and tablet web traffic share).

There are three big companies which monitor web traffic. Statcounter (which I've linked), W3Counter, and Netmarketshare. The latter two are frequently cited by Apple fans because they show iOS in the lead. What they don't tell you is that the latter two count unique visitors in a month, not web traffic. That is, in their statistics someone who visits a site once a month counts as much as someone who visits the site every day. Statcounter counts actual web visits, which is what corresponds to web data. It shows Android pretty clearly in the lead.

So the way it breaks down is:

• People who never browse the web on their phones are mostly on Android.
• People who occasionally browse the web on their phones are mostly on iPhones.
• People who browse the web a lot on their phones are mostly on Android. Despite having roughly half the number of people browsing the web as iPhones, they generate twice as much web traffic. i.e. They use the web 4x as much as the typical iPhone user who uses the web.

Because while Androids outsell Apple 4:1 or more, there's a very strange thing going on. Mobile web traffic has iOS using TWICE the amount of data over Android. Or, put another way, 1 iOS user consumes as much data as 8 Android users.

No it doesn't. Android mobile web traffic is about 2x that of iOS mobile web traffic and pulling ahead. iOS still has a huge lead in tablet web traffic, but tablet + mobile web traffic Android passed iOS last year and is pulling ahead at a pretty fast clip (iOS is losing both phone and tablet web traffic share).

There are three big companies which monitor web traffic. Statcounter (which I've linked), W3Counter, and Netmarketshare. The latter two are frequently cited by Apple fans because they show iOS in the lead. What they don't tell you is that the latter two count unique visitors in a month, not web traffic. That is, in their statistics someone who visits a site once a month counts as much as someone who visits the site every day. Statcounter counts actual web visits, which is what corresponds to web data. It shows Android pretty clearly in the lead.

So the way it breaks down is:

• People who never browse the web on their phones are mostly on Android.
• People who occasionally browse the web on their phones are mostly on iPhones.
• People who browse the web a lot on their phones are mostly on Android. Despite having roughly half the number of people browsing the web as iPhones, they generate twice as much web traffic. i.e. They use the web 4x as much as the typical iPhone user who uses the web.

Here's another, where they track based upon mobile browser platform. It seems that worldwide Android has about 50% more traffic than iOS.

It seems youre prepared to resort to scorched earth tactics to get your own particular brand of open-source browser; have you considered that theres probably a reason that Firefox is so successful when so many others have failed?

Have you considered that Firefox may not be considered successful, but a has-been that's big enough that it takes a long time to die?

http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-monthly-201001-201311

there are still many companies using IE7, or even the unfamous IE6.

Not really.

And why would you think that accurately represents corporate usage?

there are still many companies using IE7, or even the unfamous IE6.

Not really.

The writeup assumes that no version of Internet Explorer can be thought of as a modern browser. This is not true for IE 10 and 11. That said, a countrywide de-facto standard forcing vendor lock-in is bad.

The first problem is that standards evolve much more slowly than practice ---- and tend to codify existing practices rather than staking out new ground.

South Korea's government was among the first to encourage shopping and banking online, but many people were concerned about Internet safety. The government's goal was to make Internet shopping nearly as secure as a trip to a small-town market, one where vendors know all their customers by name and face.

To reassure South Korean customers, the government created its own system to authenticate the identities of online buyers. To make purchases, shoppers had to supply their names and social security numbers and apply for government-issued ''digital certificates,'' which they could present to sellers as proof of ID. The whole process took just a few clicks.

But the back-and-forth was technologically complicated, and it came with a catch: It required a piece of additional software, or ''plugin,'' known as ActiveX --- which is also made by Microsoft and worked in tandem only with Internet Explorer.

That system, implemented in 1999, remains largely in place today.

South Korea is stuck with Internet Explorer for online shopping because of security law

The second problem is that alternative desktop operating systems have never gained a significant --- barely visible ---- share of the South Korean market, Top 7 OSs in South Korea from October 2012 to October 2013