Too bad because I thought it was a winner - clean, fast - but then I use win7. Head scratching ensues.
M$ has Killed IE9It may be Microsoft's biggest blunder since the brown Zune. Only Microsoft can shoot itself in the foot in such a silly way and it leaves us scratching our heads: What exactly are they thinking? IE9 will not run on Windows XP, has problems on Vista and now we learn that it will only run on Windows 7 with SP1 installed.
You would think that Microsoft has no intentions to repeat the slow rollout of IE8, which is still below 35% market share, while IE6 and IE7 hold about 25% combined. The recent marketing frenzy made us believe that Microsoft has high goals and want to conquer the world with its IE9. But we have no idea how this can actually happen, if the vast majority of computers can't actually run IE9.
We have posted a lengthy piece about the potential hurdles that IE9 faces during its rollout. It may not really matter how good IE9 really is, if you can't install it. If you are among the huge number of Windows XP users, which still account for about 60% of all PCs running worldwide, you can't install IE9. Period. If you run Vista, you have to have SP2 installed as well as a few other "prerequisites" and the software may not install even if you have all bugfixes and upgrades for Vista installed. As if those limitations aren't enough, Microsoft now says that IE9 will require SP1 on Windows 7.
Rather than addressing the entire market or cutting out the oldest parts, it appears that Microsoft's legacy will be haunting IE9 for quite some time and prevent it from becoming a dominant browser. Right now, IE9's maximum market potential is 40% minus a few points for Vista problems, a share of IE6 users that are using an operating system other than XP, and those users who do not upgrade to Windows 7 SP1. 35% market potential is a good guess, which, however may improve as Windows XP and Windows Vista decrease in share. However, during the time of IE9 rollout, Microsoft is vulnerable to Chrome and Firefox, which may have their best opportunity yet to grab market share in markets that have been abandoned by Microsoft.
I get it. IE9 is the future for Microsoft and Microsoft is sick of talking about Windows XP and Windows Vista. Simply dropping those operating systems and telling users that they will have to get Windows 7 if they want IE9 may not be the best idea. IE9 is a huge step forward for Microsoft, but it's not great enough to convince all XP users to ditch their OS.
source:conceivablytech
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