4 ms·

Just a quick historical excurse from the certain doom and inevitable gloom: Once upon a time, there was a browser that held 95% of market share, and there was n

Just a quick historical excurse from the certain doom and inevitable gloom: Once upon a time, there was a browser that held 95% of market share, and there was no way this monopoly could ever be broken. No, it wasn't Chrome: it was called Internet Explorer. "What is Internet Explorer," I hear the younger members of the audience asking. My point exactly.

netheril96 9y ago
And that was because Microsoft made a huge mistake. I don't find it likely that Google will make such a mistake, given how web is central to their business.
shaftway 9y ago
Ha! I was really expecting this to be Mosaic (97% in 1994), or at least Netscape Navigator. I guess I'm showing my age.
- Piskvorrr 9y ago
  IIRC, in 1994 the Web was a newish technology trying to get a foothold against the omnipresent Gopher; I don't think that would be a great time to compare market share.
pjmlp 9y ago
The younger members of the audience that work at any big company know pretty well what is Internet Explorer. Or if they happen to belong to the 96% Windows desktop users as reported by Steam Hardware survey.
- Piskvorrr 9y ago
  Oh! I thought that the browser in Windows is Microsoft Edge-not-IE-nosir-notatall. Are you telling me it's just a rebrand? Inconceivable, in-con-cei-va-ble! (Also, using the Steam HW survey as representative for anything else than "on what are the people running Steam" is practically screaming "bias" in bold, capital, blinking, marqueed letters)
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    Not everyone in on Windows 10.
  - basch 9y ago
    Windows 10 has Edge and Internet Explorer. type iexplore into the start menu
    - Piskvorrr 9y ago
      I know it exists and it can be even started, but so do various other vestigial utilities; the question is "why would anyone do that besides downloading an actual browser" ;)
      - LeoNatan25 9y ago
        Many many (MANY!) corporate "web" portals are written for IE 6-8 level renderer and have never been updated since. Not only does IE exist on Windows 10, it includes all the "classic" / legacy renderers, so that admins can add their corporate garbage to a blacklist with a specific renderer version in the group policy. It's really sad.

netheril96 9y ago

And that was because Microsoft made a huge mistake. I don't find it likely that Google will make such a mistake, given how web is central to their business.

shaftway 9y ago

Ha! I was really expecting this to be Mosaic (97% in 1994), or at least Netscape Navigator. I guess I'm showing my age.

Piskvorrr 9y ago
IIRC, in 1994 the Web was a newish technology trying to get a foothold against the omnipresent Gopher; I don't think that would be a great time to compare market share.

pjmlp 9y ago

The younger members of the audience that work at any big company know pretty well what is Internet Explorer. Or if they happen to belong to the 96% Windows desktop users as reported by Steam Hardware survey.

Piskvorrr 9y ago
Oh! I thought that the browser in Windows is Microsoft Edge-not-IE-nosir-notatall. Are you telling me it's just a rebrand? Inconceivable, in-con-cei-va-ble! (Also, using the Steam HW survey as representative for anything else than "on what are the people running Steam" is practically screaming "bias" in bold, capital, blinking, marqueed letters)
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Not everyone in on Windows 10.
- basch 9y ago
  Windows 10 has Edge and Internet Explorer. type iexplore into the start menu
  - Piskvorrr 9y ago
    I know it exists and it can be even started, but so do various other vestigial utilities; the question is "why would anyone do that besides downloading an actual browser" ;)
    - LeoNatan25 9y ago
      Many many (MANY!) corporate "web" portals are written for IE 6-8 level renderer and have never been updated since. Not only does IE exist on Windows 10, it includes all the "classic" / legacy renderers, so that admins can add their corporate garbage to a blacklist with a specific renderer version in the group policy. It's really sad.