Microsoft's European browser ballot

[Kudistos Megistos]

As many will already know, Microsoft has been forced by EU anti-monopoly laws to offer alternative browsers to people who find it too difficult to download their own:



One might wonder exactly what this will do, since Europe is the biggest market for non-Microsoft browsers (IE has less than 50% market share), and one might presume that the only people left who are still using IE are people who have to (at work, for example) and people who are too scared to use anything else and won't know what the hell is going on. Nonetheless, Opera have reported that downloads have tripled since Microsoft released the update.

Also, notice how the description for Apple's browser is completely and obnoxiously over-the-top compared to the others and reeks of advertising speak.

[Timu Sumisu]

lol @ IE having the worst blurb

[Kudistos Megistos]

lol @ IE having the worst blurb

The worst?

Well, I suppose that "faster" isn't much of a compliment when it's being compared to the previous IEs, and "safer" certainly isn't. IE 6 is about as likely to protect you from viruses as a condom with holes in it.

[Bosola]

The safari description is passing on absurd. Maybe MS let it through in an attempt to show the Apple marketing team up. 'Invitation to Innovate indeed'.

Still, in some respects, I support this, not because of anti-MS paranoia (Apple are far worse in just about every aspect), but because this will target the sorts of people who don't even know what browsers *are*, and are statistically the most likely to encounter malware. By splitting browser usage in this base, we might all end up with a far better security situation.

[Kudistos Megistos]

Ooooh, I forgot to mention something:

Look closely at the first line of the IE blurb!

Really, IE is just missing that "x" factor, don't ya think?

[Timu Sumisu]

by worst i meant weakest. Safari is pretty out there, but it shows some degree of confidence n ballz. IE just says we're doing better than last time

[Kudistos Megistos]

by worst i meant weakest. Safari is pretty out there, but it shows some degree of confidence n ballz. IE just says we're doing better than last time

Perhaps they should just say "Hey, it isn't as bad as IE6!"

BTW, lol at BBC's technology section:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8524019.stm

It implies that it was impossible for IE users to choose a different browser before this happened.

Really, the technology section of the BBC's website is just embarrassing

[Jari]

Really, IE is just missing that "x" factor, don't ya think?

I guess that's better than Exploder for example, though.

All in all, as silly as it may seem, it's a good thing. Only good things can come out of IE's market share waning, and while it might have been even unintentional, MS' near monopoly on OS market has skewed the browser market as well. This wouldn't be such an issue if IE wouldn't suck so much - especially from webdesigner's point of view. But it does suck. Majorly so.

[Kudistos Megistos]

Really, IE is just missing that "x" factor, don't ya think?

I guess that's better than Exploder for example, though.

I think that Internet Exploder would be a better name, actually. It would certainly be a more accurate one.

All in all, as silly as it may seem, it's a good thing. Only good things can come out of IE's market share waning, and while it might have been even unintentional, MS' near monopoly on OS market has skewed the browser market as well. This wouldn't be such an issue if IE wouldn't suck so much - especially from webdesigner's point of view. But it does suck. Majorly so.

I quite agree that it would be a good thing for everyone to see IE's market share shrink. However, I'm sceptical about this ballot thing since I don't see it making much of a difference, for the reasons I gave in the OP. I'm quite sure that most Europeans who use IE either can't install another browser on the computer they're using (my university has IE installed on most of its PCs; on some, it even has IE6), or will be tech illiterate and will click on the big blue "e" because they think that's what the internet is.

Well, we'll have to wait and see what this does to IE in Europe. It would be much better if this were a worldwide thing, especially as Europe is the only region where IE doesn't have the majority of the market share (according to statcounter, and assuming that Antarctica doesn't count ).

[Bosola]

I dunno about Antartica. Most installations there are either military or academic, who have traditionally tended to use UNIX based systems, so IE may well be in the minority in the land of Tux.

[Kudistos Megistos]

I dunno about Antartica. Most installations there are either military or academic, who have traditionally tended to use UNIX based systems, so IE may well be in the minority in the land of Tux.

I suppose it would make sense for Linux to be popular in penguin land

[sithlord48]

i don't use IE, even when i run windows.. firefox or opera, i have tried crome but i don't like it and i have an almost ie hatred for safari.and for the record in linux you can install IE (even with ies4linux but the only people who accually do only use it for testing their web development, or if you have that one page that won't load in anything else

[therage800]

by worst i meant weakest. Safari is pretty out there, but it shows some degree of confidence n ballz. IE just says we're doing better than last time

It implies that it was impossible for IE users to choose a different browser before this happened.

LOL, I got that impression as well.




Oh, and Firefox FTW!

[obesebear]

Where's my SRWare Iron support??  Damn MS!

[Kudistos Megistos]

So according to Ars Technica, MS has failed at browsing once again.

Apparently, a coding error has lead to IE being in the rightmost position 50% of the time; surely a bad thing, when people read left to right.

A lobbying group has also tried to get anti-trust organisations around the world to get their governments to follow Europe's lead. If many of them are successful, it will be bad news for IE, since non-European savages are most likely to use the failed browser. However, I don't see it working.

EDIT:

lol Steve Ballmer thinks that IE protects your safety! lol too at Apple, and at the Firefox woman's shitty spiel.

[Cupcake]

Where's my SRWare Iron support??  Damn MS!

Isn't that just for people who are paranoi-- *realizes he's on an online forum*

SRWARE IRON SUPPORT NOW!

[obesebear]

Where's my SRWare Iron support??  Damn MS!

Isn't that just for people who are paranoi-- *realizes he's on an online forum*

SRWARE IRON SUPPORT NOW!

I don't hide behind proxies or anything, but I'd rather not have any info collected about anything I do.  Those little error messages that popped up in XP "send error report" "don't send" how many people click "send"?  Not me, I found it annoying.   Just let me cruise around the internet as quickly as possible and I'll be happy.

[Kudistos Megistos]

Those little error messages that popped up in XP "send error report" "don't send" how many people click "send"?

Yeah, I don't think I've ever sent an error report

[gjoerulv]

I'm starting to get impatient with ff (fire fox not ff lol) these days. Too many random bugs. And is it getting slower? When compared to Opera it feels like Burnt face man vs Speedy Gonzales.
Now I'm making this website for this dude, and when I test javascripts on different browsers it kinda looks like IE is the sh*t. All scripts I tested worked on IE. FF was 2nd best while only 'bout 50% of 'em worked on Safari.
There also are occasions when a site won't load I turn back to IE.

[Bosola]

Firefox can be a bit big, yes, but I half suspect that they're not keen on going toe to toe with Google's (their sponsor's) Chrome, and instead want to corner another part of the market. Chrome is speedy and clean, whereas Firefox is the heavy-duty browsing suite. That said, I've only ever noticed Firefox be sluggish on Windows systems - it runs from Slitaz (a 50mb OS) without any delays at all, so it's evidently possible to get it running swiftly without a crap load of preloading or dependencies.

[sithlord48]

Now I'm making this website for this dude, and when I test javascripts on different browsers it kinda looks like IE is the sh*t. All scripts I tested worked on IE. FF was 2nd best while only 'bout 50% of 'em worked on Safari.
There also are occasions when a site won't load I turn back to IE.

that right there is what microsoft calls embrace, enhance, extinguish.

[Kudistos Megistos]

So, it looks like the ballot only had a small effect:

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/04/ie-sees-small-usage-drop-in-first-month-of-browser-ballot.ars

I can't say I find this surprising, since I'm sure that most people in Europe who know what a browser is and why they should think about which one they use will already be using an alternative to IE if they can. The only people left are those who can't install another browser on the PC they're using (which is often the case for people browsing at work) and people who don't know or care enough about browsers to do anything other than click on the big blue e.

What's most striking is that Opera's market share in Europe has barely changed at all, even though they were boasting about downloads increasing threefold earlier in the month.

[titeguy3]

Nobody's heard of Opera. It's just the awkward fifth wheel in the browser ballot. IE is the Windows-fascism browser, Safari is the Apple-fascism browser, and firefox and chrome are actually good web browsers. Just because people are given the option of choosing Opera doesn't mean they're going to. Same with Netscape. It's like asking somebody if they'd prefer "X brand beer" when presented with "store brand 1", "store brand 2", "Y brand beer", "smooth lager" and "awesome lager".

[guess which browser were which beers in that metaphor...oh and for people who know their beer:

It's like asking somebody if they'd prefer "Milwakee's best" when presented with "Coors Light", "Bud Light", "Natty Light", "Hoegaarden" and "Sam Adams".]

[yoshi314]

Nobody's heard of Opera. It's just the awkward fifth wheel in the browser ballot.

i think the name is the problem. it's a bit snob, and downright plain at the same time. opera also has little publicity - just adding it to the ballot screen gave it an increase of interest among users.

opera is generally a great and innovative browser, but i think it's the name that turns people away from it. the other reason might be that it looks and feels very different from the rest of the browsers. so people have less problems switching between ie8, firefox and safari than between any of these and opera.