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

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 46 Posted by fate469 on Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:37PM EDT Report Abuse

    I would like to take a minute and comment of the browser wars that has been raging . Now i am not a micro soft nut case just a guy who thinks that the governments around the world just likes to stick there hands in micro soft,s pocket with all this anti trust crap. These companies bringing this action sound like whinny little girls micro soft this micro soft that .Miro soft stole my market share so we will file anti trust action against them. and make money that way. The reason people do not use your products is be cause they stink. Make a better mouse trap people and maybe you can beat micro soft . or maybe there just to stupid and lazy too.

  • 47 Posted by rwich@rogers.com on Tue Sep 8, 2009 12:12PM EDT Report Abuse

    Downloaded ie8 from windows updates, then found out my HP printer was not recognized (will not print web pages). I found out, at least up till now, there were no updates from HP to make it compatible. Back to ie7.

More Posts: First Prev … 2 3 4 Next Last

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment

My Tech

Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.

Also on Yahoo! Tech

Computers Home Office Wi-Fi & Networking Phones & PDAs Cameras & Camcorders TV & Home Theater Portable Audio
 

Site Map | Tour | Subscribe to Yahoo! Tech

Question and Answer content at Yahoo! Tech is written by Yahoo! users at Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any Yahoo! Answers content. For more information, read the Full Disclaimer.

Opinions expressed by the Advisors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! receives no compensation from any manufacturer or distributor nor does it compensate any Advisor for the coverage of any product or service in any Advisor's content.