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IE Not Faring Well In the EU Ballot

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the who-is-surprised-by-that dept.

unixcrab writes "Most PC users hit the web using Internet Explorer by default, simply because that's what came along with Windows. Now, after antitrust investigations, European users get a choice of browser to install via ballot screen, and initial reports are not good for 'ol IE. According to Statcounter, IE use in France has dropped 2.5 percent since last month's implementation of the ballot, 1.3 percent in Italy, and 1 percent in Britain. It's still early days, and it'll take more than this to chip away from IE's 62 percent lead in the browser war, but it's certainly not a good trend for Microsoft. With that in mind, we're going to have to ask you to place your bets now."

8 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe people choose randomly? by impaledsunset · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I guess most people don't care, and select one of the browser at random, or click the first one. Of course, given that IE has the biggest market share, it is going to drop.

    For the statistics to mean anything, they should tell what percentage of the people choose which browser on the ballot, otherwise it's meaningless.

    Even if most people are choosing IE, it is still likely for IE to fall. So where are the stats about what the users choose on the ballot itself?

    1. Re:Maybe people choose randomly? by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "I guess most people don't care, and select one of the browser at random"

      Spot on. Most people do not even know what browser they are using or what a browser even is. They are given a choice, and they just choose without really knowing what it is that they are choosing from.

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    2. Re:Maybe people choose randomly? by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I hate to say this, but there is a set of people who should not be expected to use a computer. I don't know what we're going to do with them in 10 or 20 years, when absolutely everything is online.

      I think the solution is available soon - the iPad. It's not a full OS (at least, presented to the user) but ought to be easy and powerful enough to get online and do the stuff they need to do (email/web/etc).

      As much as we pan it, perhaps realizing that the iPad probably does 99% of what these people need to do and giving them one may save support headaches in the future.

  2. My rule of thumb by Palestrina · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If statistical results are quoted to tenths of a percent, e.g., "1.3 percent in Italy" and there is no backup data, including a statement on sample sizes or significance, then I dismiss it as the work of a marketing department hack.

  3. Not so much. by Rhaban · · Score: 4, Insightful

    • Internet Explorer 8
    • Mozilla Firefox
    • Opera
    • Safari

    Many people have no idea what any of these are.

    • Google Chrome.

    "Oh. I search with Google. This must be what I use."

    There's "internet" in "Internet Explorer". And they recognize the icon.

  4. Re:why would I care? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because a browser with a majority market share gets to define de-facto standards. If MS goes its own way with web standards (not that they would ever do such a thing) then, a few years ago, you have two options. Either support IE and 80% of your target market, or support standards-compliant browsers and 20% of your market. What do you do? Go with the MS solution. Now they have 61%, so it's not such an easy decision.

    If IE, FireFox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari all had 15-30% of the market, then it would not be worth the investment for most people to support features specific to any single browser. Once two support the same feature, it starts to become worthwhile. Once four do, it definitely is and the one that doesn't support the feature is left out.

    Having no single dominant player in the web browser market is good for web standards. You shouldn't care which browser is the most popular, you should care that none of them is too popular.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  5. Re:why would I care? by AaxelB · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because if you ever do web development, you are required to hate Internet Explorer.

    It's not so much a requirement as it is a natural consequence, in my experience.

  6. Re:Why Netscape lost. Re:My money is on Chrome by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I always knew the reason Internet Explorer won the 1990s browser war was because it was the default install. NOT because it was superior (it wasn't - IE was shit compared to Netscape), but because newbies equated IE to internet without realizing alternatives like Mozilla or Netscape or Opera existed.

    Yeah, except for the fact that Netscape 6 was a buggy piece of shit and almost universally panned. It's not at all amazing that it was at around it's release that IE surpassed it. So basically you're making up bullshit and reinventing history.