Internet Explorer 8 quoted most-used browser

Stefan Camilleri

Feb 5th 2010, 22:31

I presume that the majority of the people commenting here are technical people. I'm a dev myself, and yes, IE makes me swear SO much.

Unfortunately, it will always remain the number one browser unless all the tech world teams up and refuses to make sites compliant with IE.

Even if not bundled with windows, it appears as a recommended download. Microsoft is a powerful marketing machine, they know what they have to do... alas, we know what we have to do also, but we're too scattered to do it :(

Max Bartolo

Feb 5th 2010, 22:13

@David Bailey
I am aware of that, however, the issues are minor and mostly related to the use of Javascript. The point of mentioning them was not that they are w3c compliant but that they are cross-browser compliant and will work equally effectively in either of the major browsers without problems.

@Matthew Saliba
Point no.2 is a very, very good point!

@Mikiel Sammut
For Javascript, Just run the sunspider benchmark test on your different browsers. Or search google for browser speed.

Miekel Sammut

Feb 5th 2010, 20:43

@Damian Allison
@Matthew Saliba
@Paul Xuereb

Why are you referring to the w3cschools page !?! The page only shows statistics based on their log-files so its not the authoritative source on browser statistics!

Get your facts and sources right! And btw it would be better if people claiming that IE8 is slow compared with FF/Chrome etc point to some reliable benchmarks and not just base their arguments on perception/emotion...

Edward Vella

Feb 5th 2010, 20:20

IE dosent follow all the W3 Standards. Plus now in march we will finally see every version of windows asking us which internet browser they want installed on their system.

D. Xuereb

Feb 5th 2010, 18:32

'Internet Explorer 8 quoted most-used browser' bleh ..stop bundling it with Microsoft's OS's and it won't be anymore!

Nigel Lawrence

Feb 5th 2010, 18:22

Since I have used IE, Opera and Firefox, going back to IE is just not considered.

Damian Allison

Feb 5th 2010, 17:01

I strong suggest the author of this article (or rather the commissioned Microsoft propaganda machine) to get their facts right.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

IE is the reasons designers have such a hard time to code websites. After 8 versions of IE they still didn't do it right ?

David Bailey

Feb 5th 2010, 16:45

@Paul Xuereb: Those stats reflect the browser that people visiting that particular site (w3c) were using, not the overall share worldwide. Firefox only has about 25% overall share.

@Max Bartolo: True, a site that conforms to W3C standards will have less issues, but many browser rendering engines don't stick to the standards themselves - especiallt IE. So you're guaranteed that any non-trivial website will need to implement browser specific fixes.

btw your websites don't pass the W3C validation tests.

Mike Farrugia

Feb 5th 2010, 16:24

What do you expect from a survey carried out in the US?
I have deleted several favourite links by mistake due to the ridiculous place they put the new red-cross.
I now use Chrome and the new favourite synchronizing tool is really helpful since I use about 6 different computers everyday. All my favourite links are now available automatically on each computer.

Keith Goodlip

Feb 5th 2010, 16:18

Having a default browser set to Internet Explorer 8 helps too.

Ian Galea

Feb 5th 2010, 16:17

I agree that Chrome is light years ahead of IE ... and I can't wait for Google to have their own operating system so I can get rid of Windows as well!

I Vella

Feb 5th 2010, 16:13

I prefer firefox!

Matthew Saliba

Feb 5th 2010, 16:12

Just 2 points:

1) http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

2) Saying your browser is the best in the world 'cause more people use it is like saying McDonalds makes the best food in the world.

Paul Barrett

Feb 5th 2010, 16:11

@ G. Fenech

True IE8 has a slight problem and that is the conflict with "Spybot - Search and Destroy".

The problem is easily resolved whilst still remaining safe and guarded.

1. Open spybot and go to immunize.
2. Check that all boxes are ticked and then click on undo (top of screen).
3. When this has been done, check ONLY the Windows Global (Hosts) box.
4. Click Immunize (top of screen).

You will find that IE8 now runs at super speed whilst the Windows Host file continues to guard against known problem web sites.

Kevin Phillips

Feb 5th 2010, 15:50

Is this really news? I mean, maybe in the inner sections of the technology supplement, but not 'latest' news of the day. Mere propaganda, given the the article ends with the microsoft.com/malta url.

Such news are only useful for starting a flame war of comments on browsers and operating systems.

Ramon Casha

Feb 5th 2010, 15:39

Internet Explorer will remain popular as long as it comes preinstalled with Windows (and cannot be removed - not even in Windows 7). Most people use it because they can't be bothered to try anything else - which also explains the slow rate at which people upgrade Internet Explorer compared to Firefox or other browsers.

See http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser_version-ww-monthly-200901-201002

There is also the fact that Internet Explorer is also used in Outlook, Outlook Express and other products (which is why it's not removed even in Windows 7), which adds to the statistics.

Max Bartolo

Feb 5th 2010, 15:33

@Malcolm Debono
"It is a known issue that websites that appear fine on other browsers have severe issues in Internet Explorer, not to mention the flaw which caused the recent Google hack."

That is not entirely true. A w3c compliant website will generally render equally well in Chrome, Firefox and IE8. It's quite a simple feat and the perceived IE8 problem lies in the fact that quite a few designers tend to use the design layout of NVU, which, quite frankly, is rubbish. IE6, however, was truly terrible.

It's also true that both Chrome and Firefox are faster than IE8 (most notably when it comes to processing Javascript, and then Chrome is even faster than Firefox), however, considering the huge improvements from IE6 to IE8, I do believe that Microsoft have done quite a good job. It's much faster, much more secure and much more reliable. Anyone still running IE6 should definitely update ASAP.

So, back to my original point, a properly coded website will have no or extremely few issues in either FF, Chrome, IE8 or any modern browser.

Max Bartolo
Developer and Designer
http://www.maltacarmarket.com
http://www.sayitmalta.com
http://www.scicalculator.com

F. Massa

Feb 5th 2010, 15:32

It's not as straight forward as the article suggests - http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ie8-internet-explorer-firefox-chrome,9581.html

A. Saliba

Feb 5th 2010, 15:31

The most used and yet the worst browser of all! Only reason it's so used is because it comes with Windows.

Paul Xuereb

Feb 5th 2010, 15:30

According to an unbiased source the top browser is Firefox with 46.3%:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

all you need to do is use firefox to understand why. IE8, like all MS products is slow, heavy and now sports a difficult interface.

David Bailey

Feb 5th 2010, 15:28

Any browser is better than IE. Personally I use Opera 10 and I would highly recommend it, it's fast and pretty much exploit-free since it's not that popular. Chrome and Firefox do a decent job as well.

Please do yourself and PC technicians everywhere a favour and uninstall IE :)

G. Fenech

Feb 5th 2010, 15:13

IE8 is THE most sluggish browser out there at the moment. The only reason it is the most used, is that a lot of people dont know that they can use other browsers.

Firefox and Chrome are leaps and bounds better than IE when it comes to browser speed and efficiency. Luckily, Microsoft know of this issue and are working to make IE9 a real competition in today's net based world.

For all those people using IE as we speak, i would really suggest trying another browser. Personally i use Google Chrome, but Firefox is just as good.

You will notice the difference, especially when it comes to older & slower computers.

Malcolm Debono

Feb 5th 2010, 14:58

While it is the most-used browser, it is still the worst browser when compared to its competitors including Firefox, Chrome and Safari. It is a known issue that websites that appear fine on other browsers have severe issues in Internet Explorer, not to mention the flaw which caused the recent Google hack.