Are we seeing the end of Internet Explorer?

[pam]

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=32926111&nid=1012&title=internet-explorer-might-get-the-ax-from-microsoft&s_cid=queue-3

 

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — If you think Microsoft should just kill off Internet Explorer already, you might just get your wish.

The browser has become synonymous with bugs, security problems and outdated technology. Even as Internet Explorer has improved dramatically in recent years, it continues to lose serious ground to rival browsers.

 

I haven't used IE for quite some time now.

[unixknight]

IE was basically Microsoft's attempt to do with the browser market what they did with the OS market... Dominate it by having their browser essentially become an industry standard the way Windows is for basically any non-developer environment (and half the developer environments, for that matter.)

 

IE struggles not only with security problems but with compatibility issues with open source web technology.  I am a Software Engineer working in an open source environment for web development and I can tell you that everything we do has to be tweaked to work around the shortcomings and peculiarities of IE.  Most of our stuff works without modification on Chrome or Firefox, but we have to do some extra work to make it play nice with IE every time.  This is especially true of JavaScript and related frameworks.

 

The result is that we can't support all versions of IE, and so our users wind up going with Safari or Firefox because those browsers don't have the same kind of headaches.  

 

Now, this is not accidental.  Microsoft was gambling that people would switch to their own proprietary web development technology, .NET.  That gamble hasn't paid off and now they've paid the price for not making nice with the other technologies.   .NET is popular, but not dominant as they'd hoped it would be.

 

These issues have been slowly but surely gnawing at IE's market share.  My tech blog shows me the metrics of who's visiting it and, since my blog is targeted toward developers, the vast majority is Firefox and Chrome, with IE being the smallest share of the "major" browsers.

Edited December 30, 2014 by unixknight

[The Folk Prophet]

I hope it dies. I also work as a web developer. I refuse to support IE for internal apps where I can control the environment. But, of course, for client facing stuff, IE has to be supported still. Royal pain!

[pam]

I monitor google analytics for this site and for Ask Gramps. I can see the percentage of people using what browser. IE is considerably lower in usage than Chrome and Safari.

[PolarVortex]

I used to moonlight as a web developer, and my blood boiled every time I tried to do something simple on a web page and saw it explode in IE.  I'd search for a solution and come across mountains of information about the least horrible way to work around some IE issue.

 

Actually, I wish browsers themselves would just die.  They were cool when they first came out, but developing a decent application today with HTML and CSS is like doing long division with Roman numerals.  The paradigm is just wrong, wrong, wrong.  

[PolarVortex]

I monitor google analytics for this site and for Ask Gramps. I can see the percentage of people using what browser. IE is considerably lower in usage than Chrome and Safari.

 

Just out of curiosity, do you know how many users of this site reach it from a mobile device?  I do a weekly newsletter for an organization using a product named Constant Contact (which my tech friends call Constant Headache), and I'm feeling heat to do some major liposuction on the format so it's more readable on mobile devices.  

[lonetree]

I don't have any software insight here, but used to really like that IE 3(and 4?) icon that also turned to a globe when I was browsing. I have to hand it to the designer(s) and still think it was a simple but impressive way to make the humble 'e' look way cool.

Edited December 30, 2014 by lonetree

[Crypto]

The newer versions of IE aren't quite as bad as the past ones... but yeah IE is a pain

[pam]

Just out of curiosity, do you know how many users of this site reach it from a mobile device?  I do a weekly newsletter for an organization using a product named Constant Contact (which my tech friends call Constant Headache), and I'm feeling heat to do some major liposuction on the format so it's more readable on mobile devices.  

 

Real time today:

 

iOS - 37.49%

Windows - 33.73%

Android - 20.68%

 

I don't know if that answers your question or not.

 

This is just for today.   It also varies during the day.  I find that later in the evening there is more using desktops than mobile devices.  

[PolarVortex]

Real time today:

 

iOS - 37.49%

Windows - 33.73%

Android - 20.68%

 

I don't know if that answers your question or not.

 

This is just for today.   It also varies during the day.  I find that later in the evening there is more using desktops than mobile devices.  

 

Yes, it does, thank you very much.  Very interesting but expected, I guess.  Many of my relatives and friends use smart phone and tablets for everything.

[Palerider]

We had to get a new tower and had to get out of the cave man computer era.....Lol

[slamjet]

IE can't go away soon enough, but, my understanding is that it's so integrated into the OS that i doubt it's going to go away anytime soon.

[Still_Small_Voice]

I work as an Information Technology Service Desk Technician/Analyst.  Internet Explorer by default seems to have a lot of security settings that block safe websites or features of websites.  I usually get a few calls a day on problems with Internet Explorer caused by either the Internet Explorer software defects or security settings.

 

I mainly use Mozilla Firefox version 30, Opera version 26, or the Safari if I am using an iPad.  I try not to use Internet Explorer as I really do not like it.

 

Edit: The company I work with uses Internet Explorer version 9.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Still_Small_Voice

[Mahone]

I work as an Information Technology Service Desk Technician/Analyst. Internet Explorer by default seems to have a lot of security settings that block safe websites or features of websites. I usually get a few calls a day on problems with Internet Explorer caused by either the Internet Explorer software defects or security settings.

I mainly use Mozilla Firefox version 30, Opera version 26, or the Safari if I am using an iPad. I try not to use Internet Explorer as I really do not like it.

Edit: The company I work with uses Internet Explorer version 9.

If your company is using a windows domain, many of these issues can be resolved or more importantly, -caused- by using group policy. If group policy is configured correctly, you can resolve most problems with IE. If configured badly, it can cause immeasurable issues.

IE is not as bad as it used to be, but microsoft have certainly ruined it's reputation from their past antics in trying to dominate the market.

The European Union ruled against Microsoft a few years ago regarding their monopoly over the browser market, and forced them to send out an update to all windows machines across the entire EU, creating a popup telling their users about other browsers and giving them the option to download another one of their choice.

Considering the EU is probably Microsofts largest customer base, this action most definitely had an effect on the browser markets and contributed to the falling of IE.

That said, slamjet is correct. IE is highly integrated into windows, and is required for so many different features of windows. It isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Mahone

[JimmiGerman]

I work as an Information Technology Service Desk Technician/Analyst.  Internet Explorer by default seems to have a lot of security settings that block safe websites or features of websites.  I usually get a few calls a day on problems with Internet Explorer caused by either the Internet Explorer software defects or security settings.

 

I mainly use Mozilla Firefox version 30, Opera version 26, or the Safari if I am using an iPad.  I try not to use Internet Explorer as I really do not like it.

 

Edit: The company I work with uses Internet Explorer version 9.

 

 

Ever tried Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) or the latest LTS version 14.04 (Trusty Tahr)? Open source software, "LTS" means "long time support" for five years. Never have had any problems by using Firefox web browser (Ubuntu version) or Chromium (downloaded from the Ubuntu software pool) or with the system software at all. No bugs. No anti virus software necessary. The best system software / operating system I know. I've not used Windows for years now, after it crashed down by a virus and I couldn't restore the system again. I've said good bye to Windows without any tears in my eyes. 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ubuntu_releases

Edited January 1, 2015 by JimmiGerman

[unixknight]

I've had better experiences with CentOS than with Ubuntu, which is also a free OS and based on Red Hat.  In my case it's for operating my game club server, so I'm not criticizing Ubuntu, it just wasn't meant for that. 

[Vort]

I've had better experiences with CentOS than with Ubuntu, which is also a free OS and based on Red Hat.  In my case it's for operating my game club server, so I'm not criticizing Ubuntu, it just wasn't meant for that. 

Pretty sure Ubuntu is based on Debian, not Red Hat.

[Mahone]

Pretty sure Ubuntu is based on Debian, not Red Hat.

He was talking about Centos.

I've used Centos for servers, but never tried to use it for a workstation.

[jerome1232]

I've had better experiences with CentOS than with Ubuntu, which is also a free OS and based on Red Hat.  In my case it's for operating my game club server, so I'm not criticizing Ubuntu, it just wasn't meant for that. 

But those Debian repositories are so BIG!

[Crypto]

I've had better experiences with CentOS

But but, Bells and Whistles, Shiny New Ubuntu!

Your not going to tell me that CentOS doesn't continually look dated as a desktop. (Even if it plays more stable)

[pam]

Could you all start speaking English?     At least I understood Internet Explorer.

[unixknight]

Could you all start speaking English?     At least I understood Internet Explorer.

 

Hehe this is what happens when you get a bunch of Linux lovers together

 

But those Debian repositories are so BIG!

 

Hehe try yum sometime

 

But but, Bells and Whistles, Shiny New Ubuntu!

Your not going to tell me that CentOS doesn't continually look dated as a desktop. (Even if it plays more stable)

 

I don't really care about the desktop, in fact, I prefer it simpler.  Not a fan of the Ubuntu quick launch bar thingy.  At home, my CentOS server doesn't even use a GUI at all, I usually run it headless and only connect directly to it when there's a network problem.  At work, All I need is the console and file explorer and I'm good to go.  The only GUI I need at all is the Eclipse development software and it doesn't care what OS it's on.

[Crypto]

I actually abandoned ubuntu in favor of fedora since the new unity desktop. It ran sluggishly slow for me, and other decisions they made I didn't agree withm

 

 

[Crypto]

Funny how the Linux people seem to be talking the most about IE.

[unixknight]

 

I actually abandoned ubuntu in favor of fedora since the new unity desktop. It ran sluggishly slow for me, and other decisions they made I didn't agree withm

 

 

I had the same experience.  Unity was a serious resource hog.

 

Funny how the Linux people seem to be talking the most about IE.

 

That's because we know better than most why IE stinks