Microsoft's European browser ballot

[sithlord48]

Now I'm making this website for this dude, and when I test javascripts on different browsers it kinda looks like IE is the sh*t. All scripts I tested worked on IE. FF was 2nd best while only 'bout 50% of 'em worked on Safari.
There also are occasions when a site won't load I turn back to IE.

that right there is what microsoft calls embrace, enhance, extinguish.

 

[Kudistos Megistos]

So, it looks like the ballot only had a small effect:

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/ne...age-drop-in-first-month-of-browser-ballot.ars

I can't say I find this surprising, since I'm sure that most people in Europe who know what a browser is and why they should think about which one they use will already be using an alternative to IE if they can. The only people left are those who can't install another browser on the PC they're using (which is often the case for people browsing at work) and people who don't know or care enough about browsers to do anything other than click on the big blue e.

What's most striking is that Opera's market share in Europe has barely changed at all, even though they were boasting about downloads increasing threefold earlier in the month.

 

[titeguy3]

Nobody's heard of Opera. It's just the awkward fifth wheel in the browser ballot. IE is the Windows-fascism browser, Safari is the Apple-fascism browser, and firefox and chrome are actually good web browsers. Just because people are given the option of choosing Opera doesn't mean they're going to. Same with Netscape. It's like asking somebody if they'd prefer "X brand beer" when presented with "store brand 1", "store brand 2", "Y brand beer", "smooth lager" and "awesome lager".

[guess which browser were which beers in that metaphor...oh and for people who know their beer:

It's like asking somebody if they'd prefer "Milwakee's best" when presented with "Coors Light", "Bud Light", "Natty Light", "Hoegaarden" and "Sam Adams".]

 

[yoshi314]

Nobody's heard of Opera. It's just the awkward fifth wheel in the browser ballot.

i think the name is the problem. it's a bit snob, and downright plain at the same time. opera also has little publicity - just adding it to the ballot screen gave it an increase of interest among users.

opera is generally a great and innovative browser, but i think it's the name that turns people away from it. the other reason might be that it looks and feels very different from the rest of the browsers. so people have less problems switching between ie8, firefox and safari than between any of these and opera.