Not only are business users abandoning IE, but the real browser battles (not being played out in the mobile space) are between Firefox & Chrome. Many assume that IE has become the Netscape of the 21st century - once a giant of web technology, now dying under its own bloat.
On the browser side, Microsoft's Internet Explorer corporate market share of 72.5% is considerably higher than the approximately 60% share Internet Explorer holds in the overall browser market, which includes both business and home users.
But IE usage is declining in the business world as well, with users abandoning [IE] for Firefox and Chrome, Forrester said. Total business market share for IE declined from 77.2% in April 2009 to 72.5% in March 2010, with IE6 going from 41% to 21.1%. IE7 has hit 34% market share and IE8 is up to 17.3% share, but those gains have not been enough to prevent the rise of Firefox and Chrome.
Firefox share has risen from 17% to 20% in the past year, while Chrome went from 2.29% to 6.88%. Apple's Safari has suffered, with market share declining from 1.24% to 0.44%. The "other" browsers category dropped from 2.1% to 0.28%, making it clear that the race for corporate browser users is coming down to Microsoft, Mozilla and Google.
Firefox has become a mainstay in the enterprise because of add-ons that "simplify and automate everyday life," according to Forrester, while Google Chrome is being adopted by the most tech savvy workers.
"Further adding to its Web-centric portfolio, Google's Chrome has experienced a slow but steady growth in the corporate browser market, thanks largely in part to tech-savvy, empowered workers clamoring for more control over the applications they run on their work computers," Forrester said.
It's very fast: Google's browser is a speed demon. PC World's performance tests have shown that Chrome has the fastest page-loading times versus leading competitors Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Opera Software's Opera. Anecdotally, I've noticed that the speedy Chrome runs circles around slow, lumbering IE.
And
Better security: IE's security mishapsare well chronicled. To be fair, Microsoft has worked diligently to make its browser more secure, butnagging problems persist. By comparison, Chrome is a paradise of protection due in part to two factors: architecture and obscurity. Chrome's use of "sandboxing," isolating Internet commands from the operating system and other apps and data, makes it harder for hackers to load malware onto PCs.
Another reason that Jeff mentions in his PC World article on May 04, 2010, nails, for me, the single biggest reason Chrome will crush IE. Simply - Chrome leaves a lighter foot print on older PCs.
Firefox & IE both became too sluggish on my 5+ year old HP workstation. Chrome helped me eeik out a whole year of functionality from my nearly ancient tower. As the IT Director, I could have purchased a new PC for myself but I chose to practice what I preach.
My sermon? Throwing money at the newest hardware or the latest vendor product isn't always the answer. This message has been tested and is a personal pillar of my professional philosophy cultivated over 13 yrs in the industry. New hardware is not the fix-all magic weapon for tech support operations.
Obviously, hardware outlives its usefulness and at a certain point, the time & effort to keep old hardware running isn't worth it , but too often, I've seen support staff give up on hardware only 2 or 3 yrs old. I've seen new life breathed into products via firmware upgrades, a change of OS or OS refreshes among other things. In my case, while I should have replaced my PC a year or two ago, changing the way I use a web browser by using Chrome radically improved not only my PC's performance, but my productivity as well. Now when staff come to me complaining about year old hardware, I have a conversation starter.
When companies smartly select innovative software and make the effort to change old habits with new technology, not only do they find cost effective solutions, they keep employee performance sharp. As an added benefit, employers that smartly select innovation effectively lead their employees to stay mentally exercised, prepped to learn, adapt and excel as technology drives us all forward.
I am not surprised that corporate users are ditching IE for better browsers. Given the gains in worker productivity brought by Google Chrome to companies, I would be surprised if Microsoft could hold on to even 50% market share in 2011.
