16 replies to this topic

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Some thought this would never happen:http://blogs.compute..._drops_below_50=====NOTE: This is not meant to be the start of a bash Microsoft thread. It's just a posting regarding changing market shares of existing browser applications. Let's keep the discussion (if there is any) mellow. Thanks! ~Eric

[ChipDoc]

Only those who weren't paying attention.  Everything ebbs and flows and nothing lasts forever.  This is why Bill decided to retire - because he realized that Microsoft had crested and he figured he'd get out while he was on top and let Ballmer preside over the apocalypse.This way Bill will be remembered for his philanthropy rather than for his increasingly futile efforts to keep Microsoft from sinking.  MS will be ok for another decade; maybe two.  The had a great run and contributed vastly to the human condition by making information available to practically everyone on the face of the planet.  They've been one of the greatest success stories in human history.But the end is clearly coming.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Nah... Bill quit because he had all the money in the world. GAME OVER!

[Tushman]

V.T. Eric Layton, on Oct 11 2010, 04:19 PM, said:

Some thought this would never happen:http://blogs.compute..._drops_below_50

Below 50%? Frankly I'm quite surprised. Not that I am a MS fanboy but because IE for the longest time had such a dominant market share, I thought it would take longer to erode their lead.  It just goes to show you make a better wheel and someone will buy it.  (thinking of how the big 3 auto makers got beat by the Japanese car manufacturers).  I'm glad we have choices - Firefox & Palemoon are my favorite browsers and I always recommend it to friends or whenever I fix someone's PC.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Tushman, I was surprised also. Just two or three years ago IE had about 98% of the market.

[Urmas]

Dunno... in 2007, the use rate of Firefox exceeded 40 % up here. And HERE is the latest 12-month info.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Well, you progressive Euro types are always ahead of the curve in many things. If it weren't so darn cold in Finland, I'd move there.

[teacher]

Awesome.  I cringed today when I read Microsoft is now making Outlook for Macs.  For me it is Firefox at work and Safari at home with Firefox when I need two different browsers open at the same time (programs that don't allow student and teacher logins from the same browser).

[teacher]

I just noticed something on the link.  It was for Finland.  However, the global results still show IE at the top.  http://gs.statcounte...af6ujbkf0t14t73

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Yup. That's true. However, what the article and that graph are showing is that IE now commands less than 1/2 the world market share. Look at the precipitous drop for IE since 2008 --> http://gs.statcounte...y-200807-201009 I really never expected IE to lose ground that quickly. Oh well...

[zlim]

I guess "history repeats itself" really is true. I never expected Netscape to fade into almost obscurity but when MS included a free browser in the OS that's what happened. Now browsers are free and since IE can not be included as part of the OS in Europe (not sure about the countries outside the EU) people have to think and look before they install a browser. When they have to do the installing, they tend to pay more attention.

[ChipDoc]

Everything fades out.  Remember ARCHIE?  Back when the Web was still a CLI, you could use it to search FTP sites.  Though it's been gone for many years, Wikipedia notes that a legacy Archie server is still maintained active for historic purposes in Poland at University of Warsaw.The University of Texas has a neat little (text) page with links showing how it works.  Remember that THIS was the bleeding edge not so very long ago...https://webspace.ute...341/archie.html

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Nope. I don't remember Archie. I do remember Gopher, though.

[ChipDoc]

Wow, I'm surprised to note that Gopher was so recent - Wikipedia lists it as having been started in 1991!  I'd have guessed mid-80s.  I suppose I'm just afflicted with OldTmer's Disease!  

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Actually, I knew of Archie, but had no first hand experience with it. I have, on the other hand, had Gopher experience. Some Gopher servers are still active --> http://en.wikipedia....pher_(protocol)

[Temmu]

i remember when the www was a new phenomenon,and a year later having to explain to ppl that the www was ~not~ the internet.try to convince someone of that today...

[ChipDoc]

There are plenty of folks who believe that Al Gore is the guy who invented the inter-tubes...