Your browser mileage may vary ...
by Volker Weber
So, Microsoft Internet Explorer owns 95% of the market? Not according to the logs of Heise Online, the premier IT news site in this country. This is their statistic:
| User-Agent | 03/2002 | 08/2002 | 12/2002 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS Explorer 6.0x | 29,4 % | 34,0 % | 37,3 % |
| Gecko (Mozilla/Netscape 6) | 8,9 % | 14,8 % | 19,4 % |
| MS Explorer 5.5x | 19,1 % | 16,7 % | 13,7 % |
| MS Explorer 5.0x | 16,7 % | 12,8 % | 10,3 % |
Comments
As much as I'd like these figures to reflect reality I just don't think heise is the right site to get a realistic estimate. People that just use whatever browser comes with their operating system do not visit a computer technology site.
But Tobias, what about the photos of the pretty ladies?
;-)
Tobias is right. I have no doubts that Internet Explorer is the major browser right now. Until someone builds a worm/trojan combination that wipes out hundreds of millions of systems. It is not a matter of "if" but only of "when".
Ben, there are no photos of pretty ladies at Heise Online. :-)
Ben, what are you talking about?
Tobias, look for black and white images on this humble weblog.
Doh, sorry... I was thinking of THIS site in place of Heise Online. My apologies for the confusion ;-) Post in haste, repent at your leisure...
but Tobias makes a fair point. When I loaded up OS X at home the first thing I replaced was IE (I got Chimera), and when I use my work PC at home, IE's out the window in favour of Mozilla... Expected behaviour given that I'm a programmer, whereas I imagine most regular Win ME / XP users stick with IE (for example).
Isn't this how new trends start?
The geeks(no offense, I count myself as one!) latch on to something new and good. Then slowly, people take notice as geeks eulogise their new found tool and demonstrate it to their friends and colleagues.
Isn't that how Linux got so big?
Fair point. In my own experience, I simply don't know any "casual" home PC users who use Linux. Even people I consider "enthusiasts" (e.g. they build their own machines and wot-not) still insist on compromising all their hard work by sticking WinXP on top of it all ;-)
Heck, in my circles I'm considered some kind of radical -- I have a Mac!
YMMV though.
I think Chris is right. I convinced a lot of non-geek-friends to leave Exploder/Outlook behind and switch to Mozilla, and happy they are.
Don't tell them "oh, this is open source, and uh, damn standard compliant and stuff". Show them the features, show them what Mozilla can do what Exploder can't. Just demonstrate mouse gestures, tabbed browsing, and the text-smiley to symbol-smiley converter in the mail client. If that doesn't work, point the browser to "special interest sites" and demonstrate what a mighty combination the pop-up-blocker plus mozdev Bannerblind is - it convinces them all ;-)
That's right. It's like planting seeds, getting people to switch that in turn may spread the word to more and more people. I convinced 2 people so far; my best friend and my dad. My dad works for "Schulen ans Netz", which is Germany's initiative to equip schools with computers and integrate them into everyday school life. So chances are he'll mention it sometime and Phoenix may end up on 30 computers at a school where kids may notice its superiority to Explorer and switch at home as well... and so on and so on...
Post a comment
Recent comments
Volker Weber on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 22:46
Sven Richert on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 21:32
John Keys on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 18:36
Volker Weber on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 16:56
John Keys on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 16:38
Volker Weber on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 16:34
Frank Köhntopp on New bag: Belkin Move at 16:04
Thomas Cloer on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 15:26
Armin Roth on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 15:20
Volker Weber on New bag: Belkin Move at 15:03
Tom Holzapfel on New bag: Belkin Move at 14:53
Juergen Eichholz on Music on physical media? This is so last century. at 14:40
Nick Shelness on Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-905 with active noise cancellation at 12:48
jonathan lewis on Nokia N8 looks like a winner at 01:18
Volker Weber on Talking Sonos at 18:45
Alexander Schäfer on Talking Sonos at 17:09
Kas le on Twitter on iPad at 23:44
Art Thomas on Enterprise mindset vs. consumer mindset at 22:20
joel david on Enterprise mindset vs. consumer mindset at 04:04
Joerg Richter on Dessau at 16:18
Alexander Kluge on Schlechter WLAN-Empfang bei Fritz!Box 7270 at 12:07
Marc Beckersjuergen on Schlechter WLAN-Empfang bei Fritz!Box 7270 at 11:31
Volker Weber on Schlechter WLAN-Empfang bei Fritz!Box 7270 at 11:13
Chris Coates on Schlechter WLAN-Empfang bei Fritz!Box 7270 at 11:11
Jan-Piet Mens on Schlechter WLAN-Empfang bei Fritz!Box 7270 at 11:00
Click here to subscribe
