IE8 Losing Popularity Contest in EU Browser Ballot

It's actually pretty amazing to think people were too lazy or too ignorant to simply download Firefox or Opera before the EU's decision. I recognize it's only a few percent, but still, that translates into a lot of people.

I would like to know what the numbers have to say about Google Chrome.

SURPRISE... wait thats not it... ummm... EXPECTED! why would any one want Microsoft's buggy browser if it didn't come with the os?

I'm happy that people are using real browsers but...

Screw the EU and their cracked up legal system.

I'm still waiting for an EU browser ballot mandate on Apple's OS X, and every Linux distribution. Should probably get one on text editors too, that Notepad has had an undeserved monopoly for far too long!

Doesn't matter if you like or hate Windows, Microsoft, or IE, forcing them to advertise their competitors is idiotic.

Really. "Opera browser 10 is Internet Browser innovation."

That's the tagline that won these idiots over? It's the one with grammatical flaws. Say what you will... the correct use of our language is a sign of intelligence. The improper use is therefore a sign of shoddy programs.

Also, what's with Opera's image compression nonsense? Sure, its faster. But the web never looked worse.

Yea, I'm so relieved that I can now change my browser, thank god the EU came through and made that possible for the first time... o wait, never mind...

It seems that joex444 doesn't know that the only countries in Europe that speak English as a mother language are the UK and Ireland.

Weeks later the shares are almost the the same on all of the browsers because people pick randomly.

Eh, it's all a matter of preference when it comes down to it. I prefer Opera myself, but generally out of habit, i.e. I'm used to it. Others prefer Chrome, Firefox, etc... Just a matter of choice really.

That's the price they pay for a de facto monopoly OS market share of 90%+. If Apple OS X achieves that market share then it will be their turn for a browser ballot. If the EU didn't act to limit the power of monopolies that threaten free-market efficiency then they would be accused of being corrupt or bribed.

Just doesn't make sense to me...

..my grandparents downloaded firefox themselves, after looking at reviews, and they are no-where near tech-savvy.

Not that hard to download an .exe on windows and let it automatically install for you.

too late

Yeah, everyone knows that text editors affect the global economy like the web does! Also Apple and Linux both have 90+% of the PC OS market and use that to inflate the adoption of their integrated browsers! Everybody codes pages that only work in Safari or Epiphany or Firefox, and IE never gets any love from web designers!

Or maybe you don't know quite what you're talking about. This isn't about random product coming bundled with random other product in a healthy, competitive market. Bundling isn't the issue. Abuse of monopoly in one market to establish dominance in another market is the issue.

At least I got here before the car analogies started.

I don't know about Apple's OS-X, but last time I check most of Linux distributions came with package managers and repository with at least 3 other web browsers. Heck most of KDE based distributions came with 2 web browsers pre-installed. So next time before you comment please check your facts first.
Oh. One more thing, the ballot screen is MS solution, EU wanted to un-bundle the IE. MS decided this is better solution for them.

I'm a web developer of 15 years and highly prefer IE over other browsers. Seems the fastest, is proven the most secure and loads the fastest thanks to being woven into the OS. The UI is the best as well, perfectly matching Windows, updates with Windows Update, very easy for most people.

Each to his own, nothing wrong with other browsers. Just saying M$ kiddie basher dorks get tired after a while, find something else to bitch about. You don't even know what you talk about...yea, end rant

Bundling a crappy free product with an expensive, high-quality good is anticompetitive? This. Changes. Everything.

In all reality, this is only a problem BECAUSE Windows is, well, ubiquitous. Since all of these browsers are free, why does it really matter that much? If people care about having a high-quality browser, they'll download one.

As an Opera user who remembers being excited about Opera 8, I approve of this messave

This may sound crazy but is it possible the EU simply got a little carried away with freedom of choice? Could it be they just wanted to make sure everyone knew they really and truly had the freedom to choose a web browser?

I first used Opera when I was fixing someone's computer with Windows ME on it several months ago. They could either struggle with IE 6, or get something modern. Firefox? Nope. Chrome? That doesn't even support Windows 2000, and neither does IE after 6. Safari? Same thing. Opera actually supports Windows ME with their latest browser. So, I put it on. After using it a bit, it kind of grew on me, and I won't use anything else now. It's not a lot better than Firefox, except for the memory leak, but I never went back to Firefox since I started using it. It's fast, easy to use, and doesn't have the memory leak that plagues Firefox. I like it.

What a "shocker", that when people have a possibility to choose, they'll even use it (not that the EU is famous for offering too much choice, on the contrary).

Now the collective lament of the wintarded micro$uxx fankiddie herd will start, at the tune of it's monopolistic convicted master's tune...

There's almost futility into bringing any sense into the herd's narrow minded prefabricated consensus, but:
- it was m$'s unforced choice to bring up the ballot screen (thanks SAL-e), the EU's competition commission asked only for the unbundling of exploder
- m$ is the de facto, and only, monopolist in the OS market (thanks jhansonxi - there could be objections, that the games/drm loader isn't actually an OS), so anti-monopolistic measures don't apply to the rotten fruit, or other (not flying) birds
- the argument of not being capable of downloading anything, without a browser, is one of the lamest ones to date

The quest for knowledge is an appanage of intelligence, tech-savviness is merely a measure of training.

I've been using Opera since version 3.5 I guess (sometime around 1997), and it's the center of everything I do on the Internet - it's just that good. Just avoid version 10.5x and stick to version 10.10 or earlier. Opera devs seem too obsessed with gaining market share at any cost, even if that means degrading what always worked well in Opera, and have managed to make version 10.5x look and work like some type of Chrome meets Safari clone. The Opera forums are filled with long time Opera users, who like me have been promoting the browser for over a decade, complaining about what they're turning Opera into. Problem is, those forums are also administered by people who most probably weren't even there when Opera started and most posts containing negative criticism simply get deleted, or at least the topics are locked. There's also a group of users who seem to be there 24 hours a day ready to flame any critics of version 10.5x (watch out for a guy nicknamed Pesala). Some examples:

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=478101

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=471831

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=448311

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=433401

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=437721

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=471691

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=472271

http://my.opera.com/community/foru [...] ?id=486881

You forgot to add that you work for Microsoft. But we can work that bit out for ourselves.

Shrug, all my friends rant about firefox and how they have noscript and all this, but i use my IE just fine and have no keylogging/security problems. Of course i dont even run a antivirus, because i don't go randomly looking at sites i know could be comprimised, and i keep my stuff up to date? Zero problems.

I do have firefox and chrome installed tho and do use them occasionally.

An inquiry in New York, a few months ago. Random people in the street.

Question: "what's a browser?"

Answer: 8 in 100 knew it was the software you used to go on the Internet.

If Microsoft delivered the ballot screen in the US, or anywhere else in the world, how fast would IE's market share dwindle? If you consider that BEFORE the ballot screen, IE had already less than 70% of the market (as opposed to around 80%), how fast would the low-hanging fruit (people frustrated by IE, but not knowing it can be replaced, because 'every software is MS, but these Macs things') be picked by these other browsers?

IE may be the fastest loading and the best matching for Windows, but how does this at all relate to how good the browser is as an independent application? If you put it on another OS it would no longer match the UI, nor would it load fast. The only weak conclusion that you can come to is that it is the best browser on Windows, and I can only come to that conclusion before taking into account compliance with web standards and page rendering speeds, at which point I would say it's the worst browser for Windows.

You could potentially argue this point for OSX, but the EU have no grounds to stand on with regards to Linux. If you take the most popular distribution, Ubuntu, for example, you'll see that the distribution is maintained by Canonical. Firefox is maintained by Mozilla. Neither company is pushing two of their own products in a bundled package. And even if they did, you can remove firefox from your system. You can't remove (all of) IE from Windows. Note that Canonical do not ship Kubuntu with Firefox, they ship it with Konquerer (I think?), so once again you have the company providing options. MS only ships IE.

This just makes me sad for Microsoft.

I currently working up some lyrics to "Oh, How I Hate EU"

It's funny...
When there are articles about Microsoft and their patent trolling, everyone (even Americans here) goes up the ceiling. When EU tries to level out and give others a chance to compete against the great American O/S monopoly that Microsoft carries, the very same Americans goes patriotic and blame the EU for being Anti-American. Couldn't it be that the American system is corrupt, allowing only the rich to get richer because they are the only ones who could afford legal suits and a team of lawyers. So you're actually defending a system that's robbing you off your civil rights against Goliath? Why? The American dream? The dream that anyone one day could be dirt rich by inventing a new toothpick? Forget it! How many Americans today are not wealthy? That's just because you still live on the dream from the postwar prosperous fifties. You can't ask the monopolists to regulate themselves. That won't happen. Every big monopoly company rules the market as if it were a communist state. It decides what the customers wants, needs and how much. Everyone, including Americans, should be happy about that there still are some corners left in the world that tries to defend the free enterprises by giving every one a chance.

BTW,
I'm glad that the Americans now maybe getting somewhat equal rights when it comes to health care, as we in Europe and even developing countries have enjoyed for decades. Even though the henchmen from the insurance companies tried to do whatever they could to stop this bill. Obama is the president America should had decades ago.

Touché...

Opera's support forum is "user to user" so you never get any answer from developers. Suggesting a feature or report a bug is something like throw a stone to a well.
If you want a decent support for suggesting few features or report few bugs you have to pay for it.

Opera's support forum is "user to user" so you never get any answer from developers. Suggesting a feature or report a bug is something like throw a stone to a well.
If you want a decent support for suggesting few features or report few bugs you have to pay for it.