IE8 Is Losing Ground And Getting Complaints

Currently 1.47/5
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sjim
07/28/09

IE has been the leading browser ever since I can remember, at least in the countries where I target my website on, some countries have always had another taste.

In 2008 Microsoft announced that standards compliant websites would be forced to opt into a standards rendering mode in IE8, otherwise your site would risk being blacklisted What a horrifying thought to be on such a list just because you disagree with Microsoft's definition of standards.

Follow up:

In the Beta state of IE8 there where a lot of bugs and simple errors, which was to be expected because its a Beta.. But when they launched it, many problems still existed.
If you have a look on Microsoft's feedback pages users signal that they feel the product wasn't ready. A few of the most common reports:
- slow loading
- not being able to print from webpages
- websearch issues
- extended boot-up times
- last but not least: the 4GB (!!) extra HD space used after installation.

At this point we can safely say IE is loosing ground and that is most likely because of what is described above. Here are some statistics from W3 Schools:

source: W3 Schools

I think the stats say it all..
Microsoft realizes this and tries to counter with different kinds of marketing campaigns. This sound pretty normal but the truth is that this is going into extremes.

take the "Browser for the better" campaign. Microsoft will donate 8 meals to hungry Americans for every IE8 download from that website. This sounds like an idealistic project but don't forget to read the small print:

"Only complete downloads of Windows® Internet Explorer® 8 through browserforthebetter.com from June 8, 2009 through August 8, 2009 qualify for the charitable donation to Feeding America®. Microsoft® is donating $1.15 per download to Feeding America® up to a maximum of $1,000,000. Meals are used for illustrative purposes only. Meal conversion is effective until June 30th, 2010."

So.... According to Microsoft you can buy 8 meals for only 1,15 USD.

Ok, another example: Ten Grand is Buried here. For this one, they have hidden an object on the Internet which is only visible in IE8... find it and win $10.000,-.

This sounds like a nice campaign but think about it, it seems like the product itself is not convincing enough anymore.

sources:
http://sobreviviralcodigo.blogspot.com/2009/07/download-ie8-or-kitten-dies.html
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp