Tweet

Why Internet Explorer Must Die

Written by: michelle crossley

Article Overview: If you’re someone who lives more in the online world, you’re sure to have heard of or participated in the eternal battle of the browsers – IE vs. others. If you’re a new denizen of the World Wide Web, you would want to know which browser best suits your online needs, but chances are, you’ve already been warned off Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. This is not just because of IE’s poor track record as a browser, but also no concrete changes being made to newer versions, despite Microsoft one of the biggest players in the market. So, we decided to debate why newer browsers are much more preferable when compared to IE one by one so as to make your choice easier for you.

Why Internet Explorer Must Die

For starters, here are the top reasons why IE is the least preferred browser by techies and non- techies alike: * The most virus prone browser - IE has come under repeated attack for being THE browser likely to attract all kinds of viruses, Trojans, spyware and adware. And newer versions have mostly done nothing to combat this.

* User-unfriendly - And if newer user-friendly features are added with every version release, these are treated as redundant because other browsers that came before have preempted the user's requirements better and earlier.

* Web designers have found problems with IE's design all too frequently to be ignored.

You'd think something would be done by Microsoft to address these kinds of complaints. But what's really happened is other players have acted on this, leaving behind IE in the virtual dust. Here are the three most preferred browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari) and why users prefer them:

* Safety - The brains behind these browsers have understood that a net user's first concern of his online habits is safety and privacy. All three browsers come with a very high level of protection against most viruses and spyware known to online mankind.

* Usability - These browsers have made online navigation a pleasure with easy keyboard and mouse shortcuts that are easy to memorize and recall.

* Easy to use interface - Designers have listened to the complaints about IE's design, thereby rendering these browsers with very attractive interfaces that appeal to the design community.

Despite these staggering comparisons, however, IE still rules the roost in terms of user numbers, though we wouldn't go so far as to call it ‘the popular choice'. We've discussed some key features of the 4 most competent browsers that are standing up to the IE monopoly of the Internet, because we believe they deserve more visibility, and hence, higher usage.

Mozilla Firefox: This open source web browser known for questioning IE's monopoly and bad features is also the most preferred browsers of techies, virus-phobic netizens and design enthusiasts. It currently gets around a third of IE's share and around a quarter of worldwide users. It adheres to the current web standards and also supports add-on features that the standard ones might require in the future. Some of the noteworthy features include tabbed browsing, spell check, live bookmarking, private browsing, download manager, and an integrated Google search engine. It supports all operating systems and has given the internet surfer reason to rejoice with each new version.

Google Chrome: Google's very own browser, ironically released as a beta version for Windows in 2008, gets its name from the graphical user interface frame, "Chrome". It currently supports Windows but development versions for Mac OS X and Linux were released just a few months back. Its market share is on the upswing and is expected to grow exponentially in the coming months, with users hailing it as the most speed efficient of all browsers.

Apple Safari: Developed by Apple Inc., and integrated with the Mac OS as the default browser, this browser has been in the race from 2003 and has its loyal user base. It also is the default browser on iPhones. Since 2007, it also supports Windows XP and Vista.

Opera: Developed by the Opera Software Company, this browser enables easier browsing and multitasking on the web. It's free for personal computer and mobile phones, but is a paid-for browser for other devices. Features include tabbed browsing, mouse gestures, page zooming and an integrated download manager. Security features are enviable, featuring built-in protection against phishing attacks and malware, strong encryption and the option to delete private data easily. It supports most computer operating systems and has a pride of place as being the innovator of many popular user features of current browsers. Despite this, share-wise, it is used by a very small fraction of the internet audience, though it is the preferred browser for mobile phones.

Last but not the least, Mozilla's latest offering, Flock, a beta release, is a social networking browser that neatly compartmentalizes your online habits into feeds, networking, mail and media. Studies show that the evolved user is slowly navigating away from IE, which is losing a chunk of market share to the other players with each passing year. Not to be left behind, Microsoft released IE version 8 recently that has added private browsing to its list of features, but, the argument still stands. Innovation is key, not delayed cloning. And as far as Microsoft sticks to its old formulas, the virtual world will continue to swim over to competition. Worthy, might we add.

Related Articles
  Optimizing Your Word Pronunciation Text to Voice Utility Within One Minute
  Delete Index.dat Files: a few Steps that work
  Short on time ... why not use a shortcut? - Todd Jamieson
  IE 6.0, IE 7.0 and Firefox 2.0 from a web designers perspective - Todd Jamieson
  What is a Web Browser?

Article Tags: brains, browser ie, interface designers, keyboard, mankind, monopoly, more visibility, mouse shortcuts, mozilla firefox, open source web, preferred browser, roost, safari, spyware and adware, starters, techies, usability, virtual dust, web browser, web designers



Related Forum Posts
Re: Home directory versus inside pages - [quote="Evan":3qmdju4m] Another interesting thing to note is that the layout looks slightly different in Internet Explorer. It actually pushes the ads to the bottom instead of being at the side which will have a definite impact on any earnings potential. [/quote:3qmdju4m] Using the index page you provided, I was able to get to it via Internet Explorer. I bet if you decrease the width of your google ads to 120 X 600 instead of what you've got them at now, that woudl solve your problem... But it is weird, as in Firefox I can indeed, see the Google Ads on the right. They must set their default screen resolution higher or something?
Re: A Few Minor Forum Tweaks - Big thanks to GT for pointing out that the tweaks I made were not showing up properly in Internet Explorer - that's what I get for just using Firefox! Thanks GT! It's fixed now!
Alexa Toolbar - Hi Beat - I haven't had any challenges with the Alexa toolbar. I also haven't heard of people having problems with it. It works with both Internet Explorer and now Firefox as well.
Re: Have you tried Mozilla Firefox 3.0.1 - I use it. it is probably the fastest and is great for organizing my online business information, but the pictures load slower than Internet Explorer. Also it becomes irritating to open links in Word Document with FireFox. Hope it helps.
Layout in Internet Explorer - Internet Explorer does display talbes, div tags, and p tags different from Firefox in my experience. Whenever we develop a new page for evancarmichael.com we have to test it on both to make sure it looks like we want it to. I'll have to do some work to get the ads on the right side and not below - first step though is getting the index page to load properly when you go to the domain name! I'm hoping to get it done this week!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How to develop the best lateral thinking skills

When Living the Dream isn't enough!

ROSI Return on SUNK Investment

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.