In the late 1990's, Microsoft's browser was winning the market share war. Microsoft Windows was, and still is, the predominant desktop O/S. By bundling IE with the O/S, a society that was relatively new to computers tended to use whatever came installed.
During the 1990's, Sun Microsystem, creator of Java, sued Microsoft repeatedly. So did Europe. The goal was to stop Microsoft from bundling IE with Windows. Microsoft was able to argue that IE had been inextricably integrated into Windows, that Windows used IE in such a way that Windows would not work without IE. Most developers laugh at the preposterous argument, but the judge granted an acquittal. However the media attention resulted in more people trying browsers other than IE.
While IE had an overwhelming majority of the browser market, Microsoft could leverage that. By not following javascript de facto standards, web pages were forced to be written for IE, and the cost of writing browser-specific web pages meant that many sites woudl run only on IE. IE also employed tactics such as J-script, the Microsoft javascript variant that was slightly non-standard, so that scripts were even more likely to work only on IE.
These days, IE is no longer claiming 90% of the devices. IE share had waned to the 30% range for a while, but it is now back above 50%. However, Microsoft no longer controls the browser landscape. Moreover, the browser platforms have all kept pace with evolving HTML and javascript standards, leaving IE behind. Finally, the browsers like Chrome, Opera and Safari have focused on performance so that they can support thick client applications. IE9 is playing catch-up in this arena.
So many people might not realize it, but there was a time a decade ago when the open, free nature of the Internet was not so sure of a reality. Fortunately though we escaped a propritary grip, and have a incredible resource that unites the world.
I feel like I'm the only Computer Science student that likes IE. And it's not cause I'm ignorant...or maybe it is? Maybe it's cause all the free stuff Microsoft gives me motivates my thinking. But since IE9 I think IE has kept up with the browser game, especially with IE10 and IE11 coming soon for Windows 8. IE just feels lighter than the other browsers, and all I want is plain internet, so I like it the best. Also, the versioning of Chrome and Firefox is getting a little out of hand, within a year we'll probably be well into the 30's for Firefox. Gross.
ReplyDeleteForgive my ignorance, but if browsers are free, what is the point of Microsoft trying to own the browser market? It seems silly to me that they would use J-script instead of Javascript so developers would be "forced" to design websites for IE so they could win the market share. I can defiantly see Microsoft doing this, im just unsure of why they do it given the "open ended" platform of windows that allows you to install whatever browsers you like.
ReplyDeleteMy main question how does it benefit them?
Personally I always liked the layout of Firefox and the "lightness" of Chrome. I rarely ever use IE because of the lack of functionality that plagued it years ago, I'm just used to Firefox now. I also have always supported open source software and feel it helps the Microsoft's of the world be innovated with their software.