IE more popular than FF ????!!!!!!

[sg1]

Just read an article on IE's future 'silent updates' and they said in the story

"Globally, Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser, with more than 52% of people using it, according to net market research firm Net Applications. Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome are battling it out for second place."

Well I find it hard to believe IE is more popular than Firefox and I find it even HARDER to believe that FF and Google Chrome are 'battling it out' for second place!!

I think a more realistic top browser list would be:-

1. Firefox
2. Opera
3. IE/Chrome

So being this forum is the BEST computer forum on the planet I'd be interested to see what you guys think?

atvb

sg1

 

[Dngrsone]

Considering IE is the default browser in some 80% of all computers sold, there is no doubt that it is the most used.

As to "popular", well that implies that the users questioned have a choice in the matter, which many do not. Anything that uses Silverlight for DRM or security purposes pretty much dictates that you use IE. Probably half of the users out there don't even know there is a Firefox, Chrome, or Opera.

Firefox has gotten bloated as of late, and IE has improved significantly since there is new competition from Chrome.

I prefer Firefox for its customizability, but hate the current update system because it unnecessarily breaks my plugins on an almost monthly basis.

Chrome is fast, but I don't like its interface.

I tried Opera a few times, just like Firefox better.

 

[Ankur]

Well it is, I recently saw on newspaper that the standing were 1. IE, 2. Chrome, 3. Firefox.
Firefox had performed very well since last two years, but I don't know how Chrome overtook in most popular.
I prefer Chrome for its speed, I like FF's customization ability but I think from experience that it is slower than Chrome.

 

[voyagerfan99]

A lot of people either don't know about other options or don't want to switch to something else. So they use IE.

 

[tremmor]

Its called old school. I still know people that will not change. Operating system the other. One still with 95 OSR2 and other swears by 98 2nd edition. Oh well.......

 

[StrangleHold]

What makes IE more used overall too, is that most people dont use older versions of FF or Chrome. Alot of people still use IE 6/7 and 8.

 

[User0one]

The only reason IE leads in use, is because it is standard equipment on Windows.

I think it is amazing Windows Internet Explorer has lost almost half of the market share because it is such a crappy Browser, and Microsoft can't seem to do anything to fix IE security problems because of IE's use of ActiveX.

Since getting most of my group of friends and family to quit using IE, malware infections dropped to almost nothing for the group.

 

[tremmor]

I don't use it except for Window updates. Firefox would never do it. Said requires internet explorer. suggest ya don't...

 

[TFT]

It's the most popular because Firefox is now bloated crap, Chrome is better as a basic browser and so can IE be if 'add on's' are disabled or kept to a minimum.

 

[johnb35]

It's the most popular because Firefox is now bloated crap, Chrome is better as a basic browser and so can IE be if 'add on's' are disabled or kept to a minimum.

I wholeheartedly agree on this. As long as you keep IE add-ons to a bare minimum then there should be no issues with it screwing up. I hate it when I have to clean up machines that have tons of toolbars installed and they wonder why its so slow.

 

[spirit]

I hate it when I have to clean up machines that have tons of toolbars installed and they wonder why its so slow.

Toolbars are my worst enemy!

I voted Internet Explorer, as it is the most used browser in the world because every copy of Windows come pre-installed with it. Safari must be up there too because every Mac has it, but the Apple market share is much lower.

I used to use IE7 and 8 a couple of years back, but then I switched to Opera 10 in 2010 and I liked it, but when Opera 11 came out about this time last year I didn't like it (I remember it being pretty unstable) so I switched the Chrome and only today did I switch from Chrome to the latest Firefox because I prefer Firefox's interface to Chrome's. Speed wise, they're about the same, maybe Chrome has a slight edge, but I much prefer the Firefox UI. I'm no fanboy though, at the moment I just prefer Firefox.

 

[PohTayToez]

Well I find it hard to believe IE is more popular than Firefox and I find it even HARDER to believe that FF and Google Chrome are 'battling it out' for second place!!

I think you overestimate the tech savy of the average person. I find that a disturbing number of people have no idea what a "browser" is and think that IE is just "the internet".

 

[wolfeking]

I personally renamed my Chrome shortcut to "internet" because I got tired of being asked how to get on the internet on my laptop when I let other students use it.

I seriously dont think the average person has a grasp of exactly what the internet is.

 

[spirit]

Even I when I was a young child used to think that IE6 and IE7 was "the internet", I had no ideas that there were other browsers out there. Yep, when I have friends round and they want to go on the internet they always used to wonder how to do it because I didn't have an IE icon on my desktop. Even renaming the Google Chrome icon to "INTERNET" did not help as the icon didn't look like the IE one. :-/

 

[jonnygreenwood]

most of computer beginners use IE, so this is normal i think

 

[sg1]

I think you overestimate the tech savy of the average person. I find that a disturbing number of people have no idea what a "browser" is and think that IE is just "the internet".

I can see where you're coming from, It was only about 6/7 years ago I discovered Linux!!

atvb

sg1

 

[BurningSkyline]

...Even renaming the Google Chrome icon to "INTERNET" did not help as the icon didn't look like the IE one. :-/

That is pretty sad... Ever try changing the icon?

Anyways, I use Firefox because I like the customization options and user interface, not to mention I've almost always used it. Like others have said lately it has been very bloated. Practically every time I open Firefox for first time when I log onto my profile Firefox stops responding for about a minute then works fine. Its irritating, but doesn't stop me from using it. I've been thinking about switching to chrome, but I don't have nearly as many customization options like skins, and icons.

On a side note, has personas plugin been integrated with Firefox? I used to have to install that but don't anymore.