4 ms·

Browser Market Pollution: IE[x] Is the New IE6

22 points by amaks 13y ago

3JPLW 13y ago
(2011). But still relevant. Here's a more recent comparison of version adoption rates from ArsTechnica: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/windows-8-more-widely-used-than-os-x-ie-still-on-the-rise/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/window... Or as an album of just the charts: http://imgur.com/a/3UM4J http://imgur.com/a/3UM4J
- barista 13y ago
  Can you really blame Microsoft here? The slow rate of ie adoption is from corporate users who are reluctant to update more frequently because of the risk of breaking their internal applications. If this was any other browser I am guessing the chart would have looked the same.
yuhong 13y ago
Don't forget server versions of Windows. Server 2003's IE6 is going to be supported until 2015 and Server 2008's IE7 is going to be supported until 2020. And worst of all, Server 2012's IE10 is going to be supported until 2023 and can't be upgraded to IE11 without upgrading to R2.
- freehunter 13y ago
  Do people generally surf from Windows Server though? Or run webapps using Windows Server? I could see someone using Windows Server to go to a website and download a file needed for the server, but that should only affect roughly no one. If your website supports SMB or enterprise customers and your downloads aren't accessible on even IE6, you're massively misjudging your audience (and putting too much into your web development).
  - yuhong 13y ago
    I agree that terminal server is the most common usage.
ChuckMcM 13y ago
It would be interesting if someone published the 'effective browser technology guide' which defined the set of things that would look the same on all browsers. It might end up with just CSS2 and tables though :-(
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  http://caniuse.com/ http://caniuse.com/ is pretty good for that.
  - lowboy 13y ago
    That is a fantastic resource that every web developer should be aware of. But it can't tell you if things will look the same, and it only goes back as far as ie8. Examples: http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/doubled-margin.html http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/doubled-margin.... http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/floatIndent.html http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/floatIndent.htm...
    - davezatch 13y ago
      FYI, if you click "Show all versions" in CanIUse it goes back all the way, to IE 5.5, FF 2.0, etc.
ancarda 13y ago
>Windows XP still accounts for 46.6% of Windows users And yet it's suppose to be retired in ~6 months. EDIT: Newer data isn't so bad. XP accounts for between 20%[1] and 10%[2] marketshare today. [1] http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201210-201310 http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201210-201310 [2] https://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportOperatingSystems.htm https://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportOper...
- lowboy 13y ago
  > [Published] SEP 27TH, 2011
  - ancarda 13y ago
    See my edit. I only realized this was published in 2011 after reading the comments.
    - lowboy 13y ago
      Yup!
ColinDabritz 13y ago
Isn't IE now silently auto-updating by default, just like Chrome? http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2011/12/microsofts-new-automatic-update-plan-could-finally-spell-the-end-of-ie6/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2011/12/micros... Hopefully that will address much of the problem.
- amaks 13y ago
  Microsoft apparently can't do that because of all those corporate customers which depend on subtle behaviors of a particular IE version they have apps developed against. This is a vicious cycle. Auto-update would work if it was the case from the very beginning.
  - emn13 13y ago
    Sure they can - just like chrome and FF can: you just add an option to turn it off. IE has that option already.
    - amaks 13y ago
      Interesting. So, perhaps, it's because IE update usually requires OS restart and Administrative privileges when Chrome for example doesn't.
    - yuhong 13y ago
      I think they provide "blocker toolkits" with registry keys so Windows Update offers security updates for the current version of IE instead (all versions of IE follows the support lifecycle of the Windows version it is installed on).
- emn13 13y ago
  Is IE11 even out for windows 8? I hope IE will truly auto-update one day, but I'll believe it when I see it.
- yuhong 13y ago
  It can't auto update like Chrome because it updates files in system32. Generally it uses the same Windows Update used for all other Windows updates.

22 points by amaks 13y ago

3JPLW 13y ago

(2011). But still relevant. Here's a more recent comparison of version adoption rates from ArsTechnica: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/windows-8-more-widely-used-than-os-x-ie-still-on-the-rise/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/window... Or as an album of just the charts: http://imgur.com/a/3UM4J http://imgur.com/a/3UM4J

barista 13y ago
Can you really blame Microsoft here? The slow rate of ie adoption is from corporate users who are reluctant to update more frequently because of the risk of breaking their internal applications. If this was any other browser I am guessing the chart would have looked the same.

yuhong 13y ago

Don't forget server versions of Windows. Server 2003's IE6 is going to be supported until 2015 and Server 2008's IE7 is going to be supported until 2020. And worst of all, Server 2012's IE10 is going to be supported until 2023 and can't be upgraded to IE11 without upgrading to R2.

freehunter 13y ago
Do people generally surf from Windows Server though? Or run webapps using Windows Server? I could see someone using Windows Server to go to a website and download a file needed for the server, but that should only affect roughly no one. If your website supports SMB or enterprise customers and your downloads aren't accessible on even IE6, you're massively misjudging your audience (and putting too much into your web development).
- yuhong 13y ago
  I agree that terminal server is the most common usage.

ChuckMcM 13y ago

It would be interesting if someone published the 'effective browser technology guide' which defined the set of things that would look the same on all browsers. It might end up with just CSS2 and tables though :-(

ceejayoz 13y ago
http://caniuse.com/ http://caniuse.com/ is pretty good for that.
- lowboy 13y ago
  That is a fantastic resource that every web developer should be aware of. But it can't tell you if things will look the same, and it only goes back as far as ie8. Examples: http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/doubled-margin.html http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/doubled-margin.... http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/floatIndent.html http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/floatIndent.htm...
  - davezatch 13y ago
    FYI, if you click "Show all versions" in CanIUse it goes back all the way, to IE 5.5, FF 2.0, etc.

ancarda 13y ago

>Windows XP still accounts for 46.6% of Windows users And yet it's suppose to be retired in ~6 months. EDIT: Newer data isn't so bad. XP accounts for between 20%[1] and 10%[2] marketshare today. [1] http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201210-201310 http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201210-201310 [2] https://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportOperatingSystems.htm https://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportOper...

lowboy 13y ago
> [Published] SEP 27TH, 2011
- ancarda 13y ago
  See my edit. I only realized this was published in 2011 after reading the comments.
  - lowboy 13y ago
    Yup!

ColinDabritz 13y ago

Isn't IE now silently auto-updating by default, just like Chrome? http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2011/12/microsofts-new-automatic-update-plan-could-finally-spell-the-end-of-ie6/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2011/12/micros... Hopefully that will address much of the problem.

amaks 13y ago
Microsoft apparently can't do that because of all those corporate customers which depend on subtle behaviors of a particular IE version they have apps developed against. This is a vicious cycle. Auto-update would work if it was the case from the very beginning.
- emn13 13y ago
  Sure they can - just like chrome and FF can: you just add an option to turn it off. IE has that option already.
  - amaks 13y ago
    Interesting. So, perhaps, it's because IE update usually requires OS restart and Administrative privileges when Chrome for example doesn't.
  - yuhong 13y ago
    I think they provide "blocker toolkits" with registry keys so Windows Update offers security updates for the current version of IE instead (all versions of IE follows the support lifecycle of the Windows version it is installed on).
emn13 13y ago
Is IE11 even out for windows 8? I hope IE will truly auto-update one day, but I'll believe it when I see it.
yuhong 13y ago
It can't auto update like Chrome because it updates files in system32. Generally it uses the same Windows Update used for all other Windows updates.