Tag Archives: internet explorer

Microsoft extending browser choice to XP and Vista as well as Windows 7

Remember a while back when I was talking about Microsoft giving users the choice of which browser they use in Windows 7? Well, Microsoft is apparently now going extend this consideration to Windows XP and Vista too.

From what I’ve heard from various sites on the net, Microsoft will be releasing an update (via Windows Update) sometime in the next six months. The update will only appear in Europe and the update will be either a “high priority” or “important” update. Once the update is installed, the next time IE runs, a “ballot” screen will appear showing users all other internet browsers with more than 0.5% (per cent) of the internet browser share in Europe.

Users will then be able to choose a browser that appeals to them and install it.

Users can also choose to stick with Internet Explorer, or be asked again at a date in the future.

In my opinion, this is great news. We might actually be able to get accurate results as to which browser is most important, and users wont be biased into using Internet Explorer anymore.

Thanks Microsoft, this is great news!

Internet Explorer 8 Final Version Released

Microsoft has finally launched the final version of the new Internet Explorer 8. It’s available for download now – http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/worldwide-sites.aspx.

Personally I doubt it will be anything good to look forward to. Microsoft are making some claims that it is faster and easier to use than Google Chrome, but I really doubt it’s true. There’s nothing faster than Chrome (especially in start time) in my opinion.

In any matter, I’ll go and download it as it’ll probably be forced onto my computer with Windows Update in a few weeks time. Might as well get it over and done with :-).

Is Internet Explorer 8 worth it?

Ever since I found out about it, I have always been a big fan of Firefox. And then when I found out about Google Chrome, that took over from Firefox altogether. I love Google Chrome plainly because it has such a fast launch time – even on a slow computer – and it renders most code very well. Admittedly there are quite a few bugs, some of which can be quite annoying. But overall, it’s a very nice browser. The interface is good, and the tab management is very nice!

A couple of months ago Microsoft released the first beta of Internet Explorer 8. In my opinion, a total waste of time. It was slow, terrible at organising page elements, and constantly crashing. Then the second beta came out, and that was a slight improvement but nothing major.

I’ve never found Internet Explorer worth it. I think the only reason people use it is because they haven’t heard of Firefox or Chrome. If everybody knew about Firefox or Chrome, I think IE would have very few users.

Also, many people don’t have the time to worry about the browser they use, so they just leave Automatic Updates to keep updating IE whenever it likes.

Most of the features covered by IE were covered by Firefox ages before Microsoft. It seems truelly pointless to me.

What do you think about Internet Explorer? Is it worth it? Do you have a particular reason why IE is good over other browsers?

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