05 Mar 2010

Browser choice 'may not impact Internet Explorer'

The fact Microsoft has allowed other browsers to be installed alongside its Windows 7 operating system may have little impact on the popularity of Internet Explorer, it has been claimed.

Simon May, author of the Rough Guide to Windows 7 and blogger at Technologyexplored.com, said many people have grown up using Internet Explorer and as a result, they understand how to use it and what it can offer.

He commented: "Lots and lots of consumers just want to get to their website, they don't really care how they get there and Internet Explorer does a good job of delivering that core need."

According to Janco Associates, Microsoft Internet Explorer's dominance of the web browser market fell by 6.21 per cent to 64.78 per cent between February 2009 and February 2010.

The market share of Firefox - ranked number two in the web browser market - fell by 0.6 per cent to 17.38 per cent over the same period, but the market share of Google's Desktop and Chrome - ranked third - rose by 2.12 per cent to 5.78 per cent.