Microsoft finally lost their minds???

[PracticalMac]

Monday I saw commercials for IE, yes, Internet Explorer, during prime time for top show (2.5 Men, I was board, tried, eating dinner) (Two and half men for those who don't watch)

I simply had to ask.

WHY? What purpose did it have?

IE is in all Windows machines.
IE is close to top for most used browser, if not the top browser.
IE is FREE

Conversely:
*NO* IE for OS X
*NO* IE for iOS
*NO* IE for Android
*NO* IE for Linux


It did mention BING, but that is a browser based search engine.


So, um, why???

 

[maflynn]

Why, because people have started turning away from IE and starting to use other browsers. MS is increasing the marketing to stave off the losses

 

[stridemat]

If the advert is anything like the UK version, I really like the soundtrack

 

[charlieegan3]

lots of people still use windows pc's you know.

not sure what you mean by this:
"It did mention BING, but that is a browser based search engine."

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Why, because people have started turning away from IE and starting to use other browsers. MS is increasing the marketing to stave off the losses

bingo.

Microsoft is not worried about the 10% of the market that can not run IE. Mobile platforms in your attack are worthless and should not be counted.

IE works on around 90% of the computers out there but it holds what around 60% of the market and it has been falling pretty steadily now for over 8 years. It started with Firefox stealing market share from them, then came along Chrome with stole some more.

In the browser world FF and Chrome are MS threats. Apple Safari is a non issue and considered a no threat because it has yet to break out of the "other" category for over 8 years on all platforms.

 

[PlaceofDis]

also i think its to get people to transition away from the older versions of IE since i think MS has finally accepted that they're bad and have actually made improvements

 

[PracticalMac]

lots of people still use windows pc's you know.

not sure what you mean by this:
"It did mention BING, but that is a browser based search engine."

I know they do, thats is why IE still near top, or top browser.

The ad mentioned MS search engine BING, but you do not need IE to use BING, and you can get BING apps for iPhone (perhaps Droid).

bingo.

Microsoft is not worried about the 10% of the market that can not run IE. Mobile platforms in your attack are worthless and should not be counted.

IE works on around 90% of the computers out there but it holds what around 60% of the market and it has been falling pretty steadily now for over 8 years. It started with Firefox stealing market share from them, then came along Chrome with stole some more.

In the browser world FF and Chrome are MS threats. Apple Safari is a non issue and considered a no threat because it has yet to break out of the "other" category for over 8 years on all platforms.

Considering the fact mobile has far exceeded desktop for browsing, MS should be concentrating on that.

The reason IE is loosing on PC desktops is becuase it is crap. IE crashes on me all the time, any wonder people get other browsers?

AND I think it is MUCH LESS then 90% of PC desktops. More like 75~80%, due to Linux, and Mac's have longer use spans so are not replaced as often as PC's and are gaining sales share.


Still, worrying about IE loosing ground would be the least concern to me. It is an indicator of state of Windows, not IE IMHO.

...OH, and if MS really wanted to get attention, then make IE for other platforms.

----------

also i think its to get people to transition away from the older versions of IE since i think MS has finally accepted that they're bad and have actually made improvements

except I did not see anything about the *new* IE, or upgrade. It just seemed about IE in general.

 

[neiltc13]

IE is in all Windows machines.

Nope. When Windows users in Europe boot their computer for the first time they see a window asking them to choose what browser they want to use.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetrev...er-selection-screen-screenshot-revealed/12360

The user is free not to install Internet Explorer and instead choose one of the others.

 

[Thomas Veil]

I think this is more about image than anything else. Microsoft's image, not IE's.

They give IE away. It's not making them any money. But continuing loss of market share does contribute to Microsoft's image as a company that the world is slowly passing by.

 

[KnightWRX]

I think this is more about image than anything else. Microsoft's image, not IE's.

They give IE away. It's not making them any money. But continuing loss of market share does contribute to Microsoft's image as a company that the world is slowly passing by.

It's not about image, it's about control. For a while there, Microsoft came really close into closing the WWW and locking it to its platform only. With IE's dominance and shody standards compliance, more and more websites were writing their HTML/CSS/DOM for Trident and not other rendering engines. A lot of enterprise web apps are written this way and support only IE.

If Microsoft had managed to keep its dominance just a little longer, there would be no Safari, no Firefox, no Chrome, no Mac OS X, no Linux. It would all be Internet Explorer and Windows.

That is what giving away Internet Explorer for free bought them. Not some silly thing like "image".

 

[Zombie Acorn]

Saw the commercial, cool soundtrack, but chrome still kicks IEs ass. I love bookmarking on my tablet and having my bookmarks on desktop when I get there.

 

[TSE]

I think Internet Explorer 9 is the best Windows browser with Safari being the best Mac OS X Browser. They are both on par with each other, IMO.

I refuse to use Chrome with it's cartoony UI that takes up too much space, and the fact that I do not like Google as a company.

I also like to use Opera on occasion for reading comics and long textbook pages on the computer when I need to with it's own customizable .pdf reader. Has a decent UI too, only problem is Opera's flash performance is absolutely pathetic and sometimes I get weird crashes when viewing certain websites. Most likely not Opera's fault, probably just the website isn't optimized for Opera since Opera has so little marketshare.

 

[ixodes]

Monday I saw commercials for IE, yes, Internet Explorer, during prime time for top show (2.5 Men, I was board, tried, eating dinner) (Two and half men for those who don't watch)

I simply had to ask.

WHY? What purpose did it have?

IE is in all Windows machines.
IE is close to top for most used browser, if not the top browser.
IE is FREE

It did mention BING, but that is a browser based search engine.

So, um, why???

Perhaps of far greater interest is why you're so attached to a TV commercial?

My DVR makes commercials irrelevant and absent from my program viewing. An example of using current technology to enhance ones experience.

 

[boss.king]

I refuse to use Chrome with it's cartoony UI that takes up too much space, and the fact that I do not like Google as a company.

Honest question: in what way is the Chrome UI cartoony? What aspects of it make it cartoony?

 

[FX120]

 

[TSE]

Honest question: in what way is the Chrome UI cartoony? What aspects of it make it cartoony?

Well I guess in Mac OS X it isn't bad, but in Windows with the Blue UI it looks extremely cartoony. Not only that, but the icons and fonts they use look more fun than professional and minimalistic - I'm not saying that's bad, just to me it is a little distracting.

The thing I most like about Safari is the fact that it looks like it belongs completely in Mac OS X. It goes with the UI so well. The same goes to Internet Explorer 9 to Windows. I have Windows 7 set to Classic and made it so that the taskbar functions exactly like Vista and before, I just prefer it that way. Therefore Internet Explorer looks like it fits with Classic perfectly.

Chrome is a decent browser for a lot of people - it seems to have created a lot of buzz and certainly has jumpstarted a new browser war, which only benefits us. Just not for me. Google is just a company I do not enjoy. And that's not me being brainwashed by Apple or anyone else. I used Chromium in it's early stages for awhile, I own a Samsung Galaxy S (I wish I didn't have one... I should have boughten the iPhone or a WP7 at the time), and I still use Google search out of habit.

 

[robanga]

Someone on a podcast, i do not recall who said a point of marketshare search is worth about $1B in revenue through ads. If this is true a point of marketshare in web browserhood may not be a billion, but its many many millions because lets face it many people do not change the default search engine and that means ad revenue.

 

[boss.king]

Well I guess in Mac OS X it isn't bad, but in Windows with the Blue UI it looks extremely cartoony. Not only that, but the icons and fonts they use look more fun than professional and minimalistic - I'm not saying that's bad, just to me it is a little distracting.

The thing I most like about Safari is the fact that it looks like it belongs completely in Mac OS X. It goes with the UI so well. The same goes to Internet Explorer 9 to Windows. I have Windows 7 set to Classic and made it so that the taskbar functions exactly like Vista and before, I just prefer it that way. Therefore Internet Explorer looks like it fits with Classic perfectly.

Chrome is a decent browser for a lot of people - it seems to have created a lot of buzz and certainly has jumpstarted a new browser war, which only benefits us. Just not for me. Google is just a company I do not enjoy. And that's not me being brainwashed by Apple or anyone else. I used Chromium in it's early stages for awhile, I own a Samsung Galaxy S (I wish I didn't have one... I should have boughten the iPhone or a WP7 at the time), and I still use Google search out of habit.

Blue? I think you're looking at a different Chrome to me

As for the font, you can pick whatever one you want. I could use Wingdings if I wanted to.

 

[roadbloc]

Blue? I think you're looking at a different Chrome to me
View attachment 336404
As for the font, you can pick whatever one you want. I could use Wingdings if I wanted to.

I think TSE was referring to Chrome run in Windows XP. Due to the lack of transparency effects in XP, Chrome is blue.

To be fair, it does look its best in an Aero supported OS.

I also like to use Opera on occasion for reading comics and long textbook pages on the computer when I need to with it's own customizable .pdf reader. Has a decent UI too, only problem is Opera's flash performance is absolutely pathetic and sometimes I get weird crashes when viewing certain websites. Most likely not Opera's fault, probably just the website isn't optimized for Opera since Opera has so little marketshare.

Hmm... I have yet to have a single Flash problem with Opera. I've been using it as my full time browser for four years now.

 

[boss.king]

I think TSE was referring to Chrome run in Windows XP. Due to the lack of transparency effects in XP, Chrome is blue.

Image

To be fair, it does look its best in an Aero supported OS.

That explains it, I forgot XP didn't have that effect

 

[PracticalMac]

Nope. When Windows users in Europe boot their computer for the first time they see a window asking them to choose what browser they want to use.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetrev...er-selection-screen-screenshot-revealed/12360

The user is free not to install Internet Explorer and instead choose one of the others.

In that case it makes sense, but that only applies to Europe, not US.

It's not about image, it's about control. ...

What control?

Browser is basically a reader, it does not produce anything.

If MS wants control, they should give away full version of Visual Web Developer (with SQL admin) and tutorial materiel, get people locked into using .NET, C#, and J# (and Silverlight, etc.) ; then provide small area for users to upload their pages...along those lines.
Make people locked into using MS Dev tools.


Now if was about BING (with IE on side), I would agree that is a good ad (and MS did make BING ads before)

 

[Abstract]

I care so little about browsers now that I don't even know what browser is good or not. Not anymore.

I have 3 browsers on my Mac (FF, Safari, and Chrome), and stick with FF out of habit.

I'll only use Safari or Chrome if a webpage doesn't come out correctly, or I can't play a video or something. This rarely happens, but it does happen, especially at work.

 

[KnightWRX]

What control?

Browser is basically a reader, it does not produce anything.

If you control the format of content that is displayed, you control creation of that content and to what platforms it can be delivered to.

You didn't read my post or follow the evolution of the Web over the last 15 years did you ?

Internet Explorer almost killed the open web. It came really, really close. Microsoft would have very much liked that.

 

[*LTD*]

Monday I saw commercials for IE, yes, Internet Explorer, during prime time for top show (2.5 Men, I was board, tried, eating dinner) (Two and half men for those who don't watch)

I simply had to ask.

WHY? What purpose did it have?

IE is in all Windows machines.
IE is close to top for most used browser, if not the top browser.
IE is FREE

Conversely:
*NO* IE for OS X
*NO* IE for iOS
*NO* IE for Android
*NO* IE for Linux


It did mention BING, but that is a browser based search engine.


So, um, why???

Microsoft mindshare is plummeting. Has been heading south for a number of years now. They've shown they're unable to cope with new market realities that were initiated by Apple and MS competitors in 2007 and then in 2010.

You don't see MS being promoted by Hollywood. It's all Macs and iDevice in movies. You don't see MS and PeeCees in the hands of the social elite - the very class of the retail spectrum that builds your brand. It's all about Apple. It's a great situation for Apple, and very, very bad for their competitors. MS and Apple's competitors simply aren't crowd-pleasers. They can't fill the seats. They have no star-power.

Windows/Office isn't the power it used to be, and it's under heavy threat. Fortune 500s are planning (or have already implemented) iPad rollouts. MS has all but handed the future of personal computing to Apple on a silver platter, mostly due to far-reaching denial and hubris. Once again, Ballmer. But historically, they've *always* been the "un-cool" and comparatively flat-footed brand next to Apple. Most of the innovations in "computers" over the years came from what Apple was doing with tech. The original Macintosh, the GUI, you name it. It took Apple to show the industry how it's done. And then everyone else ran away with it via lucrative licensing deals.

Fast-forward to today, and things don't look any better for their ill-conceived Nokia marriage, either. And it's been well over a year.

http://www.neowin.net/news/nokia-ceo-sales-of-lumia-phones-have-been-mixed

So naturally, you'll see MS *try* to do what it never thought it had to years ago: convince consumers they don't suck anymore.

It doesn't seem to be working out too well.

 

[TSE]

^ Ignore the guy that believes there's a class struggle going on depending on what brand you have.

Like I said guys, everyone has their own preference. In my opinion, any modern web browser will suit your needs just fine, it just comes down to what UI you like, what bonus features they have that you use, etc. But any modern browser is fast enough and has the bare necessities to browse the web with no problem.