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02 Apr 2011
Microsoft may be taking a measured risk with its decision to exclude Windows XP systems from the Internet Explorer 9 update.
Research firm Net Applications said in its most recent browser market share report that Microsoft could be banking on a flow of updates from Windows XP to Windows 7 to sustain its lead in the web browser space.
Microsoft released IE9 earlier this month, notifying users that the update would not be compatible with systems running the older but still popular Windows XP.
Mozilla, meanwhile, released Firefox 4 with Windows XP compatibility, and the browser surpassed IE9 in early downloads.
Net Applications said that the March browser market share had IE8 on 51.57 per cent, followed by Firefox 3.6 with 19.53 per cent. IE9 accounted for 3.56 per cent, while Firefox 4 claimed 2.8 per cent.
Vincent Vizzaccaro, executive vice president of marketing and strategic alliances at Net Applications, told V3.co.uk that Microsoft will bank on users upgrading from Windows XP to stick with the IE platform rather than convert to Firefox.
"In the end, Microsoft is betting that XP users will upgrade in large numbers to Windows 7 or later in the not too distant future. That, of course, is a safe bet," said Vizzaccaro.
"They are also betting that those users will at least initially try the latest version of IE, and market share indications are that this is also a safe bet."
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Do you agree?
Microsoft gambling with IE9
Microsoft will get what they want because of Tony Hancock's maxim:"You can fool most of the people some of the time, and some of the people most of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" "Most of the people", will do nicely for Microsoft.
Posted by: John M 03 Apr 2011
Hell No We Won't Pay
I'm not going to pay to upgrade WinXP just to use IE9 - I'll shall continue with Firefox, Chrome (and when needs must) IE8.
Posted by: Les Litwin 02 Apr 2011
Exactly why I switched to Firefox 4
I've always used IE and do not like Win 7 despite having a copy I find XP works better for me so re-installed XP. When the upgrade for IE9 came and I saw XP was not included I thought I'd try Firefox. Boy was I impressed, best thing I've done and only wish I'd tried it years ago. Thanks MS, you've really done a fantastic job for Firefox, if it wasn't for you I'd never have tried it.
Posted by: Dave 02 Apr 2011