[Cadaver]

Linky (CNN)

Bill Gates must be having a hissy fit right about now. And calling a meeting with his execs, firing a few people and plotting new ways to take over the world....

[MilkmanDan]

I'll drink to that!

[jasonsRX7]

This is great news. I've rolled out Firefox on almost all the PCs at work, and told people to only use IE if it was absolutely necessary. I'm also thinking about totally restricting IE and allowing it on an as needed basis. No one has complained about FF so far, and with the exception of a few of our banking sites, everything works fine with it.

[ManOfSteal]

M$ will be out of business soon. Probably next week.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

what ev

browsers are not the same as it was even a few years back. for most people, any motherfranking browser will do. and in 2005, people are forgetting the netscape or internet explorer hoopla. they know enough that browsers are the one program that is FREE and they al do the same crap. it's whats on the internet thats f*cked.

i dare Microsoft to make a better motherfopping browser and up the goddamn ante!

[PurpleGiant]

On all websites being accessed on our servers, IE still sits at 91.4% on average. This is down from 95.8% this time last year.

Slowly but surely...

[Ozmodiar]

I admin'd a voter awareness site last summer, and I remember the IE numbers slowly declining as the alternatives slowly rose. Wasn't anything more than a few percent over a four-month timeframe, but still.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Apple Pro Underwear

what ev

browsers are not the same as it was even a few years back. for most people, any motherfranking browser will do. and in 2005, people are forgetting the netscape or internet explorer hoopla. they know enough that browsers are the one program that is FREE and they al do the same crap. it's whats on the internet thats f*cked.

i dare Microsoft to make a better motherfopping browser and up the goddamn ante!

They may be forgetting about browser brands, but so many people default to IE. Much to my dismay, I still see people mindlessly using IE on G5s. Its frightening just how quickly Microsoft can produce a de facto standard in the computer world.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Much to my dismay, I still see people mindlessly using IE on G5s.

That's only because people have been conditioned to associate that "big E" as meaning "the internet."

Now that IE is not installed by default in Tiger, that will begin to change.

[Zimphire]

Originally Posted by ManOfSteal

M$ will be out of business soon. Probably next week.

[wdlove]

Microsoft has such an overall domination, doubt that Bill is at all concerned.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Person Man

Now that IE is not installed by default in Tiger, that will begin to change.

Or so many people will call Apple and bitch about how there's no Internet in their brand new OS when they can't find the 'e' icon that Apple will go back to including IE in OS X

*sigh*

I just realised that in Quicksilver in Panther, if you just search for 'Internet', the only two possibilities it gives you are IE and Internet Connect; no mention of Safari, Camino, FireFox, or Opera...

[Weyland-Yutani]

I find Microsoft's persistance in dominating the browsers with IE and the instant messageing with MSN most irritating. Variety and actual competition please

cheers

W-Y

[Randman]

It's amazing that IE, one of the most outdated and weakest browsers out for any platform still controls such a large number.

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by Randman

It's amazing that IE, one of the most outdated and weakest browsers out for any platform still controls such a large number.

No surprise at all. I mean, why install any software on your new Dell or BestBuySpecial PC. It already came with everything I need, right? That's what the salesman told me. He said internet was included...

Hell, if people don't know how to keep their freaking Windows boxes up to date with security patches, you really think people will know how to install another browser.

More than once I've had people say to me, "What's a browser? Oh, you mean like Internet Explorer."



Frankly, I'm amazed at the statistic myself. Fortunately, even the lay press have been all over this issue - otherwise it'd still be IE = 98.6%

[Wiskedjak]

I doubt IE will go down without a fight (though I doubt Bill Gates is "having a hissy fit" quite yet ... at least no more of one than I sure Steve Jobs gets when he gets upstaged by rumor sites ...). M$ has obviously been hoping it could put off updating IE for WinXP and thinking it could hold out until Longhorn. With Longhorn on some distant horizon, I suspect we'll see a significant IE update in the near future.

I'd be surprised if M$ isn't concerned. Sure, IE still commands a 90% market share, but as Firefox's share increases it gets more and more publicity, only serving to accelerate it's popularity. If M$ doesn't do something soon, it won't be able to use it's tried and true method of maintaining browser market share (preinstallation) by the time Longhorn hits the shelves.

[The Godfather]

Originally Posted by jasonsRX7

This is great news. I've rolled out Firefox on almost all the PCs at work, and told people to only use IE if it was absolutely necessary. I'm also thinking about totally restricting IE and allowing it on an as needed basis. No one has complained about FF so far, and with the exception of a few of our banking sites, everything works fine with it.

Tell the users that anyone using Internet Explorer will have their screen watched by you remotely (which is probably a good idea anyway).

[jasonsRX7]

Originally Posted by The Godfather

Tell the users that anyone using Internet Explorer will have their screen watched by you remotely (which is probably a good idea anyway).

Haha half of them think we watch everything they do already... We don't, but they're paranoid enough to be careful. Whatever works, I say.

I thought a new Timeline graphic might be in order for this news...

[The Godfather]

Originally Posted by jasonsRX7

Haha half of them think we watch everything they do already... We don't, but they're paranoid enough to be careful. Whatever works, I say.

I thought a new Timeline graphic might be in order for this news...

Maybe they love their job and don't let the internet distract them. You don't know. Or maybe they have migrated their PC habits outside the PC: physical solitaire on the office desk, or phone sex on the cell phone.

[jasonsRX7]

Originally Posted by The Godfather

Maybe they love their job and don't let the internet distract them. You don't know. Or maybe they have migrated their PC habits outside the PC: physical solitaire on the office desk, or phone sex on the cell phone.

Yeah most people don't goof off on the internet all day. Some want to, but don't because they're paranoid. And the rest just don't give a damn and it's pretty obvious when I parse the squid logs. I don't hand out usage reports though, unless I'm specifically asked for a particular individual, in which case they've already got an indication of a problem.

IE, with its abundance of spyware and hijackers, just compounds the issue because it's hard to discern what is actually valid user activity and what is just spyware popups and the like. This is where Firefox has been such a blessing. On the systems that no longer use IE, the amount of malware essentially drops to nonexistent (after the existing garbage gets cleaned off).

[Randman]

IBM jumping to FireFox.

[Xeo]

I switched my dad away from Netscape 7 to Firefox about 2 weeks ago. I guess he had a problem on some site but I think it was with Flash or some plugin that wasn't installed. He hasn't used IE in a really long time but it's still nice to have him on a modern browser that keeps his web browsing fairly clean.

It's nice to see IE taking a dip.

[Sealobo]

I installed Firefox at work... without telling my IT support.

[Zimphire]

I am just glad my boss cares less if I get on the net. I don't take smoke breaks, no 15 minutes jobbers every hour or whatever they do.

And I get my work done at the end of the day.

You'll find out the people who get into trouble for surfing, are the ones that they can't get to be productive.

90% of the time, you do your job, and do it right, you can get away with a lot at work.

[The Godfather]

Originally Posted by Zimphire

I am just glad my boss cares less if I get on the net. I don't take smoke breaks, no 15 minutes jobbers every hour or whatever they do.

And I get my work done at the end of the day.

You'll find out the people who get into trouble for surfing, are the ones that they can't get to be productive.

90% of the time, you do your job, and do it right, you can get away with a lot at work.

My computer at work is on the LAN, but has no internet access. I know some of you would call it employee abuse but I literally couldn't care less.

[Zimphire]

I could l care less either.

I don't use your work computer.