The recent wave of security holes in Internet Explorer — and calls by experts and analysts to switch to another browser — are having an effect on Microsoft’s market share, WebSideStory, a San Diego Web measurement supplier said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to data compiled by WebSideStory, Internet Explorer’s market share has dropped 1.32 percentage points since June 4, the first marked decay in IE’s leadership since 1998.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes these are just spikes,” said Geoff Johnston, an analyst with WebSideStory, “but this has become a very predictable trend.”<\/p>\n
Internet Explorer has had more than 95 percent of the browser share for the past two years, and until early June of 2004, had owned about 95.7 percent of the market. Within the last month, however IE’s share of the U.S. browser business fell from 95.48 on June 4 to 94.16 on July 9. Netscape and Mozilla, meanwhile, saw their share climb from 3.54 percent to 4.59.<\/p>\n
“The past couple of years, IE’s share has been pretty steady. But this is the first time we’re seeing an actual trend,” said Johnston.<\/p>\n
A one-and-a-third point loss may not set alarm bells ringing at Microsoft, but when one considers how many people use the Internet, the number of users switching are significant.<\/p>\n
Some analysts estimate the U.S. Internet population at around 200 million. A 1.32 percent change in browsers, then, translates into 2.6 million dropping IE. The slip by IE is also important, said Johnston, simply because it’s so difficult to get people to change browsers. “There’s this huge inertia,” he said, “that keeps them using the same browser.”<\/p>\n
Behind the downturn in IE’s share, said Johnston, is the combination of its recent slew of security problems and the appearance of alternatives that are as good, or in some cases better, than Microsoft’s browser. The security problems [of IE] mixed with the launch of excellent alternatives, like Firefox, are what’s finally getting people to switch. They’re thinking, ‘I’m not the only one.’ <\/p>\n
Like they say, nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.”<\/p>\n
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