IE? No thanks! (And about time too!)

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Rat
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8524019.stm
IE and the European Competition Commission finally come to agreement.
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Layzie Bone
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Although I do agree that Internet Explorer is not the best web browser available...speed and security being the 2 major problems with IE.


But....what's the big deal? I started out with IE, I was an IE fan until Chrome. Chrome is awesome, 16 tabs open and no slowdown, HA! Thing in particular I can leave tabs open for weeks at a time and switch back to it with very little delay, so regardless of what someone thinks of Chrome, they did a very nice job on Chrome's internals when you can leave webpages open for WEEKS and not have problems. I know I'm crazy, who leaves programs they're not using running for such a period of time and yeah 16 tabs is not an exaggeration.

Besides all that, a new computer must have a browser on it or the internet is unusable, i don't think we're ready to go back to telnet-ing into your email server just yet. I'm sure people that aren't tech savy aren't really going to give a rats ass what's on their computer, of course I'm talking about people that pretty much struggle with email and surfing the web, you know the people that keep getting scareware on thier computer.

Concerning Microsoft's future, I read an article on the New York Times. Looks Like Microsoft is rotting from within...
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battye
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I agree with Layzie. I have to admit I don't know the intricate details about this agreement other than being aware that it was happening and then reading the article Rat linked to... but why should Microsoft have to offer users the option of using another browser? It's not as if they are restricting people from installing another browser. If the user is not aware of alternatives, surely that only means the competitors have not marketed their product well enough.

Seems a bit unfair I think, I don't see Apple offering me a choice between Chrome, Firefox or Safari. I just see Safari.
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nesman
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On one hand, I'm morally obligated to support any kick to MS's shins. On the other hand, who gets to decide which alternative browsers are presented? To only represent the top 3 or so seems to miss the point.
vtech
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I think it's great that they're allowing this to happen. IE just lacks in everything compared to the newer browsers these days. Firefox is my browser of choice, but even Chrome is miles ahead of IE in my opinion.
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The point, I think, is that MS had to agree to be something other than gods in the EU.
What is great is that IE is no longer a must-have in European windows installations. You run windows? You run IE! This is now set to change in the EU. IE will no longer be installed by default on windows installations in this part of the world. Everyone kind of got used to the thing where you can install an alternative but IE is still an integral and lurking part of your windows environment. This is now set to become a thing of the past.

Happy independence day!

It's a little sad that things got so bad you missed the point. You know, most Chinese folk are not interested in politics.... it's just something other people deal with.

For the record, I've been a Firefox fan for about 5 years now. I got tweaks and add-ons coming out of my ears. :)
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tunebud
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In my opinion from what I have read about this it was other Governments intervention who stepped in and said "hey you can't do that here." I don't see this happening in the U.S. anytime soon..

I am not one for exploits but... the recent events have said a good riddance to IE6 thank God. Also according to the MS chatter their browser market is on the rise. That is not mentioning a upgrading from IE6 adding to sales.
Microsoft blog wrote:We support this recommendation to move off Internet Explorer 6. Modern browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 bring benefits for customers and developers alike. We realize there are some customers today who depend on Internet Explorer 6, and while we continue to support them through the lifecycle of the product, we are also investing in the tools and training to help them upgrade as well.

upgrade?? not change, returning to.. or new users.

On a different note Chrome seems to be the big winner but for how long? Personally for me I had it loaded on a machine for all of 30 min. when well known sources told and showed me why not to have it installed. To quote one source " imagine IE is a car, now roll the windows down and drive into a blinding rain storm. That is your Chrome and your gonna get wet." It is not such a major player in the browser world yet, but with its rapid incline it shouldn't be long before major flaws will begin to be exploited.

one example of the browser markets
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2 ... r-wars.ars

News of the IE decline.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-101544 ... 7-1_3-0-20

alternative browsers in the European market.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/th ... _be_sh.php
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This is fun. Microsoft are already rolling out the choices. The smaller firms (they have links from the choices page, but not immediately visible, they're over to the right, are fighting for better visibility. The larger firms are well pleased. Opera say their browser downloads have increased 3-fold since the action began. Hurrah for choice! Hurrah for competition. Hurrah for the folks who are finally deciding to check out the alternatives.

:D
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I think it would be best if the browsers were sorted randomly for each user. I think it's funny that they chose Opera, as the weakest of their main competitors (usage-wise). Personally, I keep Firefox and Opera open 24/7. Opera is for my "professional" gmail account and articles that I might not get to read for a while while Firefox gets my main usage.
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quahappy
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This certainly has been a long time coming. I started of with IE but was some time before I knew of other browsers (talking six years ago). IE did what I needed it to - surf the net. As my own personal experience and knowledge with PCs and software grew with time, I came to realise just how crap IE is, especially in terms of security, add-ons (some you have to pay for!) and speed. My primary browser is Firefox because of all the add-ons that meet my needs. At end of day, it's down to individual preferences.

I can''t visualise this message popping up when you boot up a new PC though:
"You new PC is almost ready! Before you can start surfing, a browser is required. Microsoft now gives you the option to choose one that suits your needs. Please read the following and make your decision:

1. Internet Explorer (blurb follows)
2. Mozilla Firefox
3. Internet Explorer (more blurb)
4. Google Chrome
5. Internet Explorer (software error - duplicate entry)
6. Opera
7. Internet Explorer (choose me!)
8. Safari
;)
If you don't ask...
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Layzie Bone
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I looked at the new IE 9 platform, and I can say that HTML5 is quite nice, if you have a video card it definitely will be for your benefit...

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/
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Rat
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Layzie Bone wrote:if you have a video card it definitely will be for your benefit...
Who doesn't? I guess you could argue that some machines don't have dedicated video cards and only feature integrated circuitry on the mother board that do the same thing but... why would you do that? Basically, everyone has one. So, you think we'll all benefit from IE 9? Personally, I shall be avoiding it, assisted by a particularly long barge pole. (Though the Pole in question would be my mate Tomek, and he doesn't live on a barge.)
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Layzie Bone
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Rat wrote:
Layzie Bone wrote:if you have a video card it definitely will be for your benefit...
Who doesn't? I guess you could argue that some machines don't have dedicated video cards and only feature integrated circuitry on the mother board that do the same thing but... why would you do that? Basically, everyone has one. So, you think we'll all benefit from IE 9? Personally, I shall be avoiding it, assisted by a particularly long barge pole. (Though the Pole in question would be my mate Tomek, and he doesn't live on a barge.)
Rat both you and I know what I mean, I'm not talking about the cheesy underpowered integrated video chip sets, though integrated video is much more capable these days, most newer chip sets can even play HD and support DX9 and probably DX10, and of course OpenGL 2.0. The point I'm attempting to make, those who have an aged computer and for some reason use IE and plan to upgrade to IE9 or just give it a spin would see a significant increase in video performance with a advanced video card. Now I'm certian that a GTS250 is a a little more capable than an integrated chip, and no I can't say I have seen how IE9 runs on a slower machine like my netbook, but since it's running linux and making IE run on linux is pointless since most linux fans hate microsoft with all their heart, and putting windows 7 back on my netbook just to try IE9 is well silly, I will have to see on another machine at another time, and Rat if you have I'd sure would like you to share you experience with IE9, but I sure you haven't and are staying miles away :roll:

Ask yourself why is IE9 important, or rather HTML5, or better yet Chrome OS. The future of home computing is going to be stateless, applications and data will not be stored on a computer. Like it or not it is likely to be the case, applications that you use will not be installed on your computer, but delivered via the internet, we're seeing with games (farmville anyone?), Microsoft is doing it, Google is doing it, so why not make the browser make use of the graphics card. I'm thinking Google, not Apple, Microsoft, not even Linux, will be the next big player in home Operating Systems.
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Layzie Bone wrote:yourself why is IE9 important, or rather HTML5, or better yet Chrome OS. The future of home computing is going to be stateless, applications and data will not be stored on a computer. Like it or not it is likely to be the case, applications that you use will not be installed on your computer, but delivered via the internet, we're seeing with games (farmville anyone?), Microsoft is doing it, Google is doing it, so why not make the browser make use of the graphics card. I'm thinking Google, not Apple, Microsoft, not even Linux, will be the next big player in home Operating Systems.
You're talking cloud computing. Not even Google seem to know yet how (or how quickly) they could correct or counter attacks on the cloud. I think it's going to be a few more years yet... but I also think it will come. Ubiquitous computing is almost certain to happen - just look how quickly smart phones are spreading - and it can't happen too soon. Information, and access to it, is power.
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Layzie Bone
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Indeed. Not that I support the idea, but the tides are turning that way for sure. Now back to IE 9, obviously synthetic tests don't really do the job, but if you run any of the HTML5 speed tests at the IE 9 testdrive site with other browsers they will work, but not nearly as fast, although I'm sure this is what Microsoft wants, even IE8 which is still slower then chrome (in all of my experiences), to make you go wow IE9 is going to be great and download it and use it. However, other browsers will probably introduce similar features that use the GPU. What I don't think you'll see is HTML5 catching on like flash and java, I expect to see something similar to silverlight :lol: Don't get me wrong I think HTML5 will be used in a lot more places, could become the standard in time, but other browsers will catch on and people will continue to use chrome, firefox and so fourth...
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