Browser Changes

Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser, now accounts for less than 60% of the market, down from 95% at its peak in 2003, according to new figures that a researcher named NetApplications has issued. Internet explorer now has 59.9% of the market, with Fire fox gaining on it, with 24.5%. While third place Google Chrome's 6.7% share of the market looks tiny by comparison it is rising sharply, up from just 1.7% this time last year. Sigh..And the sad part is that the greatest browser ever, Netscape, is now officially dead (but there still is a 1/2 % usage of it), killed by the monolithic Microsoft a couple of years ago when all computer makers were forced by Microsoft to load only Internet Explorer on their new for sale computers.

Since the U.S. courts ordered Microsoft to stop forcing computer manufacturers to install Internet Explorer as the exclusive browser there has been a battle for the best browser among consumers, rather than the the imposition of Internet Explorer on all. And Microsoft has gradually been losing market share, also largely due to concerns over security. Viruses target Explorer far more often than other less used browsers. In the war between viruses and anti virus systems, the viruses usually win.

There are also more alternatives now. Google has been advertising and there are more people using Macs and Apple's Safari. There is just a great awareness that there are alternatives because Microsoft can no longer force computer sellers to make Internet Explorer mandatory as the default browser. Millions of people who had never really thought about which browser to use are now thinking about making a choice among the many browsers out there who all seem to work better than does Explorer.

Too, Europe has also just been freed of the Explorer ball in chain, which should lead to more alternative browser usage and less Explorer. This is a the result off a legal agreement between Microsoft and Europe's Competition Commission in December in which Microsoft committed to letting Windows PC users across Europe install the web browser of their choice, rather than having Microsoft IE as a default. that's a huge number of computers that are now free to pick the best browser rather than the obligatory one (Internet Explorer).

Now....if we could just find a computer that is easy to use, never crashes or needs continual updates and isn't obsolete a few months after purchased....