IE9 and Chrome increase usage share on Windows 7, Firefox declines

This year 2012 started off on a good note for Microsoft, in particular Internet Explorer 9. As it was being expected earlier, IE9 is on a roll, constantly increasing its worldwide user base on Windows 7. Presently, IE9 is used by 29% of Windows 7 users as in December 2011, compared to 7% in April 2011. An increase of 22% in eight months is quite an achievement for a browser which is dearly loved by some and mercilessly panned by others. Google Chrome browser share increased from 18% in April 2011 to 25% in December 2011 while Mozilla Firefox decreased from 24% to almost 20% within the same time period. A pictorial representation is given as below:

Speaking on region-specific terms, IE9 has strengthened its position in the US markets too with a gallop of 8% browser share in April 2011 to 35% in December 2011.

Though IE8 has seen a huge downfall in its user share, both worldwide and in US, Google Chrome is climbing up steadily from 12% to 16% in the US. And as expected, the present market trends aren’t that kind to Mozilla Firefox which has seen a decline from 19% to 17% in the US.

This may not be a huge difference number but if it continues with its Rapid Development Cycle, minting out a new version every six weeks, then the time is not far when its user base may be reduced to single digits. Maybe.

These statistics are of course only about the browser share on Windows 7 operating system but according to Microsoft, it has sold more than 450 million Windows 7 licenses and that is equivalent to 8 times the entire Mac user base. Maybe that explains the significance of Windows 7 and the percentage of browser share on it.

Microsoft is making moves to promote Windows 7 and IE9 while it gets ready with IE10 to be released along with Windows 8.

Microsoft Finally Makes Internet Explorer Updates Automatic and Seamless…..

Internet Explorer users have proved to be extremely stubborn when it comes to updating their browsers. Internet Explorer 6, which was released more than 10 years ago, still commands 8.3% of the market share. Millions of users have clung on to outdated releases in spite of the fact that many modern websites don’t even work on them. One of the main culprits behind the slow adoption rate of newer versions of Internet Explorer has been the update system.
Google automatically and seamlessly updates Chrome whenever a new version is available. Mozilla Firefox and Opera also does the same. However, updating Internet Explorer requires manual intervention. Now, this is finally going to change.
“With automatic updates enabled through Windows Update, customers can receive IE9 and future versions of Internet Explorer seamlessly without any “update fatigue” issues”, wrote Ryan Gavin, General Manager of Internet Explorer Business and Marketing.
Going forward, Microsoft will be automatically updating users to the latest version of Internet Explorer for their system. Enterprise users and others who don’t want to be automatically updated can use the Automatic Update Blocker toolkits. Users who have declined previous installations of IE8 or IE9 through Windows Update will also not be automatically updated. Browser settings including favorites and search preferences will be retained between updates.
Even this won’t solve the issue completely as Microsoft has refused to support older operating systems in the recent versions of Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer 9 ditched Windows XP, while Internet Explorer 10 will drop Vista compatibility. However, it should at the very least help us in getting rid of Internet Explorer 6 and 7. Microsoft plans to begin the Automatic Update procedure with Australia and Brazil in Janurary, and then move on to the rest of the world.