This news may come as a shocker to the tech-savvy folks in the house, but 60 percent of companies use Internet Explorer 6 as their default browser, according to Forrester Research. Meanwhile, your IT department spends a decent amount of time erecting barriers to prevent browser upgrades. Bottom line: companies need a browser policy, or they will risk productivity losses.
Welcome to the wonderful world of enterprise browser adoption. While the tech press spends a lot of time talking about Web 2.0 and even 3.0, Corporate America is on Web 0.5.
To be sure, there are good reasons for the enterprise reticence on browsers–they’re a security risk. However, too few IT departments have a browser policy, and they sure don’t think through potential productivity gains with advancements such as tabs, faster processing, and JavaScript engines and better search features.
Forrester analyst Sheri McLeish says in a research report:
As more and more companies look to SaaS (software-as-a-service) solutions, and the Web delivers richer media, firms need to rethink their browser choices in concert with the Web-based apps they deploy. Today, the overwhelming majority of enterprises support Internet Explorer–remarkably, 60 percent of enterprises are still on IE 6.
I’ve witnessed the love affair with Internet Explorer 6 up close. I got a new work laptop a few months ago, and IE 6 was the default. I forgot what that browser looked like–partially because I use Firefox, but also because I had IE 7 (now IE 8 ) before. Luckily, the upgrade didn’t kill me.
Forrester’s market share stats illustrate how enterprises are sleeping through the browser wars:
- IE is the corporate browser of choice, with 78 percent of enterprises using it as a default;
- IE 6 has 60 percent of the enterprise market, with IE 7 clocking in at 39 percent;
- Firefox has 18.2 percent of the enterprise market;
- Chrome has 2 percent;
- Safari has 1.4 percent.
The problem: Information workers live in browsers all day. And companies are giving them the equivalent of a Yugo.
Why? Companies are worried about custom apps that may fail on new browsers and security and compliance. In addition, companies limit the ability to upgrade. Seventy percent of companies restrict browser choice and Web content. Forrester notes that “IT control trumps technology populism.”
Ultimately, this IT control may be short sighted, argues McLeish:
Even if enterprises lag behind in browser upgrades, leading consumer-facing Web sites take advantage of browser capabilities that enhance rendering speed, better support rich Internet applications (RIAs), and offer new privacy and security capabilities. From an information worker perspective, these benefits are only part of the picture.
Features like tabs, add-ons, quick copying, improved search and navigation, and better post-crash recovery provide tangible productivity benefits for most information workers. Address bars that double as search save time, and available add-ons feature a wide range of functionality such as better remembering of passwords and saving pages to view later without creating permanent bookmarks.
The other issue: Employees use multiple browsers, depending on various applications. We’ve become agnostic about browsers, so limiting them is the equivalent of removing a key wrench from the toolbox.
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Google has launched an effort to make it possible for developers to offer ad-blocking and other extensions for Chrome, a move that would give the Google Web browser the same level of customization as Mozilla Firefox.
The ability to install third-party applications that add capabilities chosen by users, but not provided by Mozilla, is a key reason for the open source browser’s popularity. Google is apparently borrowing from that playbook in proposing the extension system to Chromium, the open source project behind the development of Chrome.
Google’s proposal was introduced over the weekend in a blog post from Aaron Boodman, a Google programmer working on Chrome. The design document outlines areas that would have to be addressed, such as application programming interfaces to connect extensions to the Chrome engine.
Under the heading “use cases,” Google lists some types of extensions that the company would like to support in Chrome, such as ad and flash blockers. Google makes its money from selling Web advertising but has decided not to ignore two of the most popular Firefox extensions. Other third-party apps Google says it would support include bookmarking/navigation tools, download helpers, and privacy and parental controls.
Having an add-on system from Chrome tops users’ wish list. “If I can’t even add a third-party extension, this browser won’t stay long on my computer,” one person wrote on the Chromium forum.
Google did not set a timetable for releasing an extension system for Chrome, but the design documentation for Chromium developers indicates the search engine has already started to work on the technology.
Google designed Chrome to be lightweight and fast, to have a minimalist user interface, and to resist crashing under have JavaScript demands of Web applications. While a reviewer for InformationWeek believes Google has largely met its goal, not having an extension system gives rival Firefox the upper hand. Microsoft also doesn’t provide an open extension system for Internet Explorer.
Extensions give users more choices in customizing the browser to meet their needs, while relieving the browser maker from having to add a lot of features that can hinder performance. Internet Explorer accounts for more than 70% of the browser market, followed by Firefox with almost 20%. Chrome, which is in beta, has less than 1%.
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Chrome’s share of the browser market is fading as users who abandoned Internet Explorer and Firefox start to return, an Internet measurement company said today.
At the end of its third week of availability, Google Inc.’s Chrome accounted for 0.77% of the browsers that visited the 40,000 sites tracked by Net Applications, down from a 0.85% share the week before.
“The trend line on Chrome still has a slight downward angle, and these weekly numbers reflect that,” said Vince Vizzaccaro, Net Applications’ executive vice president of marketing. Although Chrome popped above 1% within hours of its release, the new browser now reaches that mark only in the middle of the night, U.S. time, Vizzaccaro added.
Chrome’s numbers, like those of Mozilla Corp.’s Firefox and Apple Inc.’s Safari, typically climb after work hours and then fall as work resumes the next day. Many businesses standardize on Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer (IE) and don’t allow employees to use alternate browsers.
IE and Firefox still showed share erosion compared to the period immediately before Chrome’s Sept. 2 debut, but both browsers regained users last week, Vizzaccaro said. IE picked up 0.24 percentage points last week, while Firefox regained 0.06 points. Both, however, remained down for the month, as was Opera Software ASA’s Opera and AOL LLC’s now-defunct Netscape.
Safari, the only browser to escape Chrome’s impact, was still on the plus side for September, ending last week up 0.45 percentage points before Chrome, although that was down from the prior week’s 0.68-point net gain.
Last week, Vizzaccaro said Safari’s immunity could be traced to the lack of Chrome competition. Although Google has promised a native Mac OS X edition, its browser is currently only available for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Computerworld’s site metrics echoed Net Applications’ trend for Chrome. The percentage of visitors to Computerworld.com who used Google’s browser dropped to 4.01 points last week, down from 4.96 points.
Chrome’s slow slide may be because of Google’s low-key promotion, Vizzaccaro said. “The only marketing effort I’ve seen from Google is in sponsored links on search results for ‘browser’ or ‘browsers’ search terms,” he said. “On Google, Chrome is naturally the top sponsored link. On Yahoo, it was second. And on Windows Live, I couldn’t even find it in the first five pages of organic results.”
| Week starting |
Aug. 24 |
Aug. 31 |
Sept. 7 |
Sept. 15 |
Net Change |
| IE |
72.39% |
71.03% |
71.24% |
71.48% |
-0.91% |
| Firefox |
19.54% |
19.78% |
19.35% |
19.42% |
-0.13% |
| Safari |
6.27% |
6.67% |
6.95% |
6.73% |
0.45% |
| Chrome |
—– |
0.67% |
0.85% |
0.77% |
0.77% |
| Opera |
0.74% |
0.75% |
0.70% |
0.68% |
-0.06% |
| Netscape |
0.77% |
0.83% |
0.67% |
0.66% |
-0.11% |
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