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Microsoft pushes IE9 to 3.6 per cent of Windows 7 users
SOFTWARE MAKER Microsoft has been enjoying something of a success with one web usage outfit reporting that its Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) web browser is used by 3.6 per cent of all Windows 7 users on the web.
Microsoft released IE9 as the Vole was facing a three-way onslaught from Apple, Google and Mozilla. The company was keen to trumpet the initial download figures for IE9, saying that IE9 was downloaded 2.3 million times in the first 24 hours. That figure was shattered by Mozilla when it launched Firefox 4 a week later. Now Net Applications is reporting that 3.6 per cent of Windows 7 users use IE9.
For Microsoft that's quite a shot in the arm after its own first day download record was trounced by Mozilla. Microsoft in particular is keen to stress the statistics for Windows 7, as IE9 is only available on Windows Vista and Windows 7, and for the Vole, Windows 7 is where all the action is.
According to W3Counter, in February 2011 over 28 per cent of its sample used Windows 7 to browse the web, so Microsoft's ability to push 3.6 per cent of Windows 7 users onto its latest browser in a short period of time is, if nothing else, impressive.
Microsoft has been heavily promoting two main features of IE9, its support for HTML5 and hardware acceleration. Microsoft's Ryan Gavin tried to showcase some of the websites and web applications that make use of IE9's capability, but perhaps the most interest point he made was that 90 per cent of IE9 downloads were new users, not ones that were running a beta or release candidate, adding that 25 per cent of those used Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox.
There's no doubt that Microsoft's latest stab at developing a web browser has produced a better product than before, but it would be foolish to write off its competitors. Net Applications' figures show that 2.8 per cent of Windows 7 users are running Firefox 4, so the race is far from won for Microsoft.
Microsoft is desperately trying to get Internet Explorer users to upgrade to IE9. In a rare move, Gavin pointed out that Net Applications recorded a 0.43 per cent drop in IE6 usage, something that Microsoft has been trying to hasten.
Browser usage figures for the month of April will give a clearer picture of whether IE9 is really holding its own against Firefox 4. µ
Tags: Microsoft
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well Vista is fine an dandy, XP isnt, but then there using software thats donkeys years old.
The single biggest issue with MS products is that they have long maintained compatibility for years, i can still use old 16 bit apps made for MS-DOS, this has been its achlies heel over the years, FF and whoever else can do what ever the hell they like but i for one am glade that MS is finnally realising that supporting people using an OS thats a decade old is just makeing the matter worse.
No offence mate but MS's stance with the likes of out of date users has made my life that little bit worse when it comes to the windows platform, same for hardware and driver support.
with regards to the % of users, they are pointing out that of the Win7 users out there, of which there is quite a lot, 3.7% have actively sort out IE9 and installed it without prompting, not something that could be said if it was pushed out as an WU.
@tim
you mean 96.3 i assume? ;) well thats your choice, but if MS did do a WU roll out just now its likely that there may be significant problems with a large proportion of people, MS cant predict what software and hardware combos there are out there and folk jumping up and down complaining about it would be a PR nightmare,
i cant see why you have had issues with it? unless your using a dodgy OS? the downloader is a small file that gets everything and sets it all up, you can remove it as well if you dont like it and all the previous settings remain intact. So nope, like MS, even when it did hit WU i wouldnt be aproving anything via WSUS for my network until ive tried it out on a small scale, if there was an issue on my network it would piss me off but if MS has one its going to be a very bad day for them indeed!
What about the other 97.3% of us? We have to wait till the end of June to get out copy as I do not prefer to directly download any Microsoft product. Had many horrors trying to do that. I may go ahead and try Firefox 4.
3.6 percent of Windows7 users has to be a small number. Interesting Spin, why not provide a percentage of all Windows users.
Microsoft has abandoned the XP users, while Firefox and other modern browsers still support the older operating systems that are still used by millions.