Internet Explorer 8 arrives – no-one cares
After over two years in the making, Internet Explorer 8 was finally released to the public on March 19, 2009. And no one cares.
Microsoft has finally released Internet Explorer 8 to a less-than-expectant public. Sure, some tech bloggers and Microsoft fanboys got themselves in a tizzy waiting for the launch, but the event pretty much passed by the rest of us without a hint of excitement.
To be fair to Microsoft and IE8, browser wars are hardly the most exciting of topics, but considering the browser is how we all access the Web, a new iteration of the market leader should have at least made some sort of splash. But it didn’t.
Our own Dave Jeyes has mixed views on IE8, liking many of the new features but noting that the Microsoft browser is still the slowest of the big four. Microsoft itself claims that IE8 is faster than Firefox and Chrome, but independent tests claim the opposite, with Safari also performing better than the Microsoft browser.
Around the Internet, there has been a mixed response to IE8 with some giving it a huge thumbs up while others condemned it. The biggest issue seems to be how Microsoft has totally ignored Web standards, which means IE8 is now not showing many sites as they are meant to be seen. This apparently includes the BBC and Facebook.
Opinions are one thing, but how is IE8 actually affecting Microsoft’s shrinking market share? Computer World reports there was a sizable bump in terms of downloads as soon as the new browser became available, but that was always going to happen. But Electronista reports how most of these gains were at the expense of IE7 rather than one of its true rivals.
Microsoft seems to have messed up by launching IE8 in such a low-key way. Not only are few current IE7 users upgrading, virtually no users of rival browsers are doing so. The former situation could change once IE8 becomes an automatic update at some point in the future but I doubt whether the latter situation will change anytime soon.
The point is, a lot of people seem to have moved on from Internet Explorer. It’s gone from being the only real browser available to use to just one of a number of viable choices. I very much doubt any Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Opera users will switch to Internet Explorer 8, which effectively means Microsoft is left chasing IE7 and IE6 users. So, expect to see that market share drop at an even faster rate very soon.
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March 22nd, 2009
One thing I personally hate about IE8 that no one is talking about is the “look” of the UI. IE7 also had a horrible UI; I stopped using it mainly because I couldn’t figure out how to use it quickly when I first opened it up.
There is *soooo* much wasted space, for one thing, and I hate having the menu bar appear below the URL bar (the menu bar should appear above it, the way it should on any window). The URL bar should be way more customizable than it is, too, cf. Firefox and Safari.
I get the feeling that they’re going to move to the cursed Ribbon interface in the near future, so they’re not really focusing on proper UI right now.
Say what you will about Apple, but the fact is that the Apple folks earn their keep and their alleged $500 markup simply because they almost always get the UI right; Windows almost never does at first try. In this case, it’s a second try, and still a complete failure.
March 23rd, 2009
What a surprise. I saw the heading and could guess who had written it without opening the article.
That all leads to an unsupported conclusion: “So, expect to see that market share drop at an even faster rate very soon.” You gave a reason you didn’t believe market share would rise, and then presented this as the conclusion. All your statement demonstrated was that you didn’t believe there were grounds for growth.
The conclusion just demonstrates your bias.
March 23rd, 2009
What I love as a web developer is that the combined user base of IE6 up to IE8 is now less than Firefox alone… and declining fast! This is great news, so the web can get on with inovating and working to proper standards, and so much time and effort not being wasted on outdated tech in IE. Here’s hoping the IE project fades out this year, or that the rumors come true about of a webkit engine replacing the trident one that’s failed to stand up to the competition so far.
May 13th, 2009
Dave ‘Scoop’ Parrack gets to write all the good articles, backed by his own facts. Quality read. “but independent tests claim the opposite” they also agree too if you dig a little further. Great neutral reporting, depends on how you’re feeling…