Google's Microsoft-esque landgrab for IE's market share
The browser wars are heating up in earnest, with Google urging its customers to dump Internet Explorer 6 for the Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browsers. Internet Explorer commands a 68 percent global market share, according to Net Applications, but a full 20 percent of that share is for IE6.
With Firefox apparently picking up 66 percent of all IE6 defectors, according to TG Daily, Google is effectively subsidizing the open-source Firefox at the expense of Microsoft. In sum, Microsoft is getting a taste of its own medicine from the company that increasingly looks and acts like Microsoft.
Funny how that competition thing works.
Google, of course, has good reasons for pushing upgrades, just as Microsoft has had its own good reasons for forced upgrades. Better security, lowered support burdens, etc. Just because a vendor wants its customer base to upgrade to a newer version doesn't suggest nefarious design. In fact, it often implies the opposite.
But by offering links only to Firefox and Chrome for its upgrade, Google is doing something that helped to make Microsoft the 8,000-ton gorilla on the desktop: playing favorites. Notice how Facebook handles the requested upgrade:
(Credit:
Kryogenix.org)
But this is how Google is doing it:
No IE7 in Google browser alert
(Credit: Google)Fair? Yes. A bit sneaky? You bet. Clint Boulton at eWeek sees it as a way to promote Chrome, and he's right. Google now regularly hawks its own Chrome browser on its search page, the same page that 63.5 percent of the world uses. In true Microsoft fashion, Google is going to tie its products together, making a holistic experience that ostensibly helps customers while bludgeoning competitors.
All's fair in love and browsers.
This particular move, however, is not notable for Google's self-preferential treatment. That's to be expected. What is most intriguing is Google's clear anti-Microsoft shot across the bow. "Get rid of IE6, and maybe you should wait on using that scary beta of IE8. Don't even think about IE7" is the message. If Google can get its users trying something, anything besides Microsoft technology, it wins. Even if those Microsoft customers defect to Mozilla's Firefox browser, Google still wins, because the Mozilla Foundation is an erstwhile ally of Google, not a competitor.
Welcome to Competition 2.0. It looks a lot like Competition 1.0, but Microsoft is suddenly on the receiving end.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
I'm not opposed to Opera, but I'm not going to go out of my way to make sure we display properly for it. Quite simply, it's just too much trouble for typical sites to go to so much effort. I really wish the browser wars would eliminate all but 3 or 4 browsers.
Now, I understand that Opera is expected to become a major force in the mobile arena. If that happens, I'll have to rethink my position on this.
Did you consider that perhaps Google's advert has less to do with "self-preferential treatment" and more to do with functionality?
Experienced web designers will tell you that IE6 is quite a pain to design for, most notably the (in)famous Peek-a-boo bug. (There are some bugs in IE7 as well.) Certain features and layouts either look wrong or fail to work at all.
In respect to functionality, Firefox, Opera (thanks SuezanneC), and Chrome all do something that no public version of IE can do: display web pages that function according to the code 99% of the time. Microsoft is trying to fix this in IE8 (best of luck to them).
I'm sure that fellow web designers will back me up. There are a plethora of reasons why IE6 should be cast aside, and quite frankly, I can't blame Google for promoting their own browser. Don't view this as Microsoft bashing!
And of course if you don't like Chrome, it's open-source. You can check on the code that Chrome is running or modify it to your liking. The Chrome team has responded quickly to add a bunch of user requests into the browser already.
Also, the Gmail link that you mentioned doesn't promote Chrome above other browsers. The page in question suggests Firefox 3, Chrome, and the beta of IE8 (in that order). If a Gmail user can get 2x faster JavaScript by using a more modern browser, why not let users know about that?"
It's absolutely true that IE6's JavaScript is noticeably slower than Firefox3, Chrome, or IE8. If Google can highlight two open-source browsers (and then the beta of IE8) to users that would benefit from faster JavaScript performance, that will be a helpful to many users, because many of them might not be aware of a better experience.
"Get faster gmail with faster browser" mean that your browser faster not "If a Gmail user can get 2x faster JavaScript by using a more modern browser, why not let users know about that?" as you implied.
And why Google not promote fastest and most standard compliance browser Opera 9 and 10. Because Google get no benefit of this.
You think lie to us is so easy?
And do exactly what??? Only one developer who is not a google employee is allowed to submit code changes. Everyone else can just see it - similar to what you can do with the .Net framework.
Man, how many people have bought this stuff that Chrome is open source and keep harping it without actually knowing the reality of Chromes so called "open source"
You mean that back-in-the-sixties notion that if we all band together and do the work for nothing we can "fight the man" attitude?
Sorry, but in a capitalistic society like ours, when REAL success in one of these types of "projects" is iminent stand back and watch the fights over the rights, and see how many hands try to grab a piece of the pie. Just witness Linux and The Lawsuits (the name of my sons prog-rock band, by the way).
While true open source development may be fun to participate it in, it will not resonate well with those who don't their share when the cash comes in. Is Firefox really "open source" development or are the people contributing getting compensated for their work?
Oh I've heard of that... That was that insecure thing that people used last century to use the Internet. :-p
Not to mention IE is fundamentally tied to the Windows operating system. The reason? So that it can't be uninstalled. There's no real reason why IE needs to be a part of Windows, but if it is ... then it ain't goin' nowhere. Google doesn't install Chrome on your computer each time you visit the website, and you can use it with IE7+ and not get any messages regarding upgrading.
Google is gaining the clout of Microsoft, but they have done it through amazing services, innovative thinking, and being a good business. Microsoft got their power through blackmail, coercion, and being a jackass. Google plays many of the same moves ... but they do it with a much better sense of class and respect that Microsoft still hasn't quite figured out how to do.
Yeah, their OS is so inferior to anything else, like Linux or Mac. Why would ANYONE in the public choose MS over either of these 2?
Sheeeesh....at least some people represetn their anti-microsoft bias with an attempt at well thought out arguments not just accusatory adjectives and name-calling.
What if MS decided to make it impossible for any future versions of browsers other than IE to run on their OS without paying for a VERY expensive library? If MS wanted to get dirty, that could be very easily done.
So if the IE gear get's sick the whole OS get sick ;-).
The Boomerang come back!
Does anyone know is in Win7 the IE still so embedded?
They believe don't change a running system, when this browser get no more support Company mightl finally update, hopefully straight to IE8.
The IT Guy told me once why we never will have anything else as IE, but I forgot why!
Anyway
Happy new Year to all
And the new things that will come this year.
Features like Accelerators, Slices, Loosely Coupled Tabs, Recovery mode etc is surely going to drive the next wave of innovation.....And these Developers call the shots to surfers and web-users......So, quite naturally IE 8 has some distinct advantages over the other two....
Also I'm cent per-cent sure that Microsoft must have taken due cognizance of IE's weakness against FF and Chrome. While IE is in Beta 2 stage, it will undergo many refinements until it comes out as a flawless and a final product in March 2009.
By the way Windows 7 is going to come preloaded/embedded with IE 8.
I'm sure this has the European Union attorneys rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of nabbing another billion from Microsoft.
- by Jcabbott9 January 7, 2009 1:17 PM PST
- Microsoft will NOT stand by this sort of chicanery. How soon can it be that they will not enable Firefox or Chrome to run on their OS? I don't see it happening completely, but perhaps something along the lines of a very expensive SDK or Library will be required to build and/or test browser applications so ALL developers of open source who wish to develop web browser applications for their OS will need to purchase and install. It will positioned as a "Neccessary Security Step" in developing web applications and it MUST be used to prevent serious security flaws in any web browser apps. Think of the potential revenue stream for MS. It's dirty pool, but if Google wants to play dirty then MS can also. If these practices are not stopped just think of the mess the computing industry could get itself into.
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- by knowles2 January 8, 2009 4:01 PM PST
- Yeah and think how much Microsoft will have to pay around the world to cash scrap governments once the lawsuits started.
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(29 Comments)I am pretty sure European union will have nice day in court if they did that and Microsoft will have to several billions out to them, after EU need the money to keep the gravy tray running in Brussels, especially governments tightening their belts.