IE8 loses market share immediately after release as users downgrade

Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:32AM EDT

See Comments (47)

Well that's not supposed to happen.

Microsoft formally released Internet Explorer 8 last Thursday, an event that arrived armed with a full media blitz and several glowing reviews. Normally the release of an upgrade like that would result in millions of installations and market share immediately skyrocketing, but that's not what happened.

According to Net Applications, which monitors browser usage in near-real-time, IE8's overall share of the browser market had climbed to 2.59 percent by Sunday... but then dropped Monday morning, down to 1.86 percent.

The reason for the decline is fairly obvious, as InformationWeek notes:
"Early adopters of IE8 are switching back to the more familiar, and -- at this point -- reliable Explorer 7 browser."

Compatibility is obviously the big problem, with legions of comments piling up on message boards and blog posts about websites that are totally broken by the browser's new implementation of "standards." Messed-up design isn't the only issue, either. Some users report that IE crashes with an error during certain applications, like printing.

Of course, IE8's fortunes mirror Internet Explorer's long trend down, having dropped from 75% market share to 67% in the last 12 months, again according to Net Applications. (Alternate statistics show a much grimmer view for IE.)

But one commenter offers an alternate explanation for IE8's Monday surprise, suggesting that corporate users forced to use IE6 and IE7 add to the market share of those browsers during weekdays, and that the weekend jump for IE8 (and all other browsers) is stastically explainable that way. Interesting theory...

Comments on IE8 loses market share immediately after release as users downgrade

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  • 26 Posted by lil_csr20 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    i personaly didnt like IE8, i tryid it in beta 1, beta 2 and RC1 and i was disapointed, now with this release i didnt even bother in downloading it, its just a waste of time

  • 27 Posted by jeffreycampbell23 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    I use Firefox on a Mac and a PC. No problems - ever. Internet Explorer is a dinosaur and a real POS at that.

  • 28 Posted by classicride7261 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:26PM EDT Report Abuse

    I still use IE6 and XP SP3 and will continue to do so as long as I possibly can. They don't cause me the problems I read about with Vista, IE7, IE8 and other Microsoft stuff and I can go anywhere I want on the net. For me that's a comfort level worth maintaining.

  • 29 Posted by melbawhite@bellsouth.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    Destroyed itself on my Vista system. Also, destroyed the version 7. I am using Foxfire exclusively now. Even the previous version was not very reliable,.

  • 30 Posted by equinox.enterprises on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    You all need to realize that the same folks, MS, who can't get their flawed internet browsers to work, wrote your operating system as well. You should not be afraid to switch to a Linux or BSD operating system. I have not had to use IE for YEARS, debunking the myth that there are some websites that require it.

  • 31 Posted by katielee4211 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    Snowflakehenri, You must have, like I did, down loaded IE8 from Yahoo. And yes they want to change your homepage and search engines to Yahoo . I did manage to change mine back permanently, but it was a bit frustrating. When I downloaded IE8 on my other computer, I went to the microsoft website and it went smoothly, not changing my previous settings. The compatibility tool seems to fix any viewing problems, but I have no how this InPrivate filtering and Browsing works--or not--initially it seemed to cause some probllems, almost restricting what I browsed..And when you are not tech savvy, their help topic doesn't really seem to help, ergo I turned it off, so if that was enhancing my security, it's pointless if I have it off. So all in all, I'm not really happy with it.

  • 32 Posted by joeverant on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    is it possible to get rid of IE8 once you install/

  • 33 Posted by thisjukeboxplays33rpm on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    I always leave the heartaches to the first adopters. Madonna knows this better I guess.

  • 34 Posted by donj293 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    how do i go back to IE7 or downgrade. deadeye

  • 35 Posted by dmb27983 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    When I tried to upgrade to IE8 with Yahoo my instll crashed. I deleted that install and downloaded it from Microsoft. I do like the new links/favorites bar, it can switch off to icons only. It seems to be better at adjusting to any page needs. Video slightly better.

  • 36 Posted by jaymf1991 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have had IE8 since the day after it came out. I have had nothing but trouble. Slow startup time including not starting at all or crashing. The few times it has loaded the pages load slow. I recommend Firefox or IE7 at least until the bugs are worked out.

  • 38 Posted by billiam22002 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    I don't know what the fuss is I haven't had any trouble with IE 8. The only thing I had to change is my internet security to norton 360 and it has run with no problems,but I also have the new Fios by Verizon which is better than Comcast in my opinon.

  • 39 Posted by apacherebellady on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    I downloaded the new IE8 and can no longer get on it. If I click on Internet Explorer it will not come up all the way and than I have to control, alt, delete to get it to shutdown. It is really frustrating when this happens. Good thing I had Mozilla Firefox on my machine. I wish I would not have downloaded IE8. I have told everyone I know what happened so they do not download it for now. I am so glad I did not put IE8 on the machines in the office.

  • 40 Posted by mchao81 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    can someone please help me. i installed IE8 yesterday didnt like it so restored to my old setting now i cant get connected. just a blank screen. what do i do?

  • 41 Posted by matthew.erwin on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    Anyone open Task Manager and see what a Memory hog IE8 is?! It opens a new process consuming another 30-50 MB's for every tab you open...kinda defeats the idea of even having tabs... I don't understand why people haven't switched to Safari or Firefox 3 as a replacement for this garbage.

  • 42 Posted by denser12 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    Im not that good at computer but from IE7 now to IE8 not encountering problem(s) yet - guess windows update is the key . However, with all those negative comments IE8 is earning popularity i believe i will be needing enlightenment from microsoft for me to stick on IE8.

  • 43 Posted by tom_rush on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    From a developers point IE8 does have its plus side. It has development tools and debugging. Not that you'd actually develop anything using IE, but its handy to debug all the fixes IE requires. Mind you I'm still looking forward to the day when you can opt out of an IE browser install on Microsoft OS. I guess that Monday wouldn't look good for MS.

  • 44 Posted by lzhou8 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm downgrading to IE7. After two weeks' use of IE8, I don't want to suffer any more. I really don't understand how MS can release something like this. It's slow and it's memory hog. I have to reboot my machine more frequently than I like to. From Vista, to Ms Office 2007, to IE8, does Microsoft listen to their Users?

  • 45 Posted by tandcmock@att.net on Wed May 13, 2009 2:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    I downloaded IE8 today and now am unable to print email messages. It prints garbage with a heading of

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