Linux and Open Source

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols & Paula Rooney

Open source browsers put pressure on IE in 2009

By Paula Rooney | December 17, 2009, 8:00am PST

Microsoft’s ability to hold off open source rivals is weakening.

Even as its proprietary browser market share is dropping hard, execs agreed to offer support for competitive browsers with its Windows operating system in exchange for an end to its legal nightmares in Europe.

It’s a win for the community in Europe but I’m not sure the open source rivals need the help. According to Net Applications’ statistics, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer market share has dropped more than 5 percent to 64 percent since January of 2009. Its share was roughly 70 percent at the start of the year, and it was at 75 percent in mid 2008.

Its share has fallen mostly to the two leading open source browsers, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Google’s Chrome has increased to 4 percent market share from 1.5 percent at the start of 2009. Google’s browser — whose use will no doubt increase after the release of the complementary Google operating system late next year — was first released in September of 2008. Not bad for 14 months on the market.

Meanwhile, market share of the leading open source browser, Mozilla Firefox, climbed to roughly 25 percent over the past year, also up 3 percentage points to 24.72 percent in November. Its share was 22 percent at the beginning of this year.

Opera stayed roughly the same with two percent market share, according to Net Applications. [Correction: Opera is not an open source browser, as this story claimed earlier and as one reader pointed out as incorrect. My regrets for the error.]

The days of Internet Explorer’s dominance appear to be waning. Of course, Microsoft’s Windows operating system monopoly still owns the market, but we’re not sure how long that will matter, especially as software-as-a-service models take off and Google’s web-focused operating system is prepped for release.

As Microsoft’s grip on the browser market loosens, opportunities for open source rivals are blossoming. It will be interesting to see which of the two top open source browsers benefits most in 2009.

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Google Inc., Operating System, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Web Browser, Open Source Rival, Open Source Browser, Web Browsers, Open Source, Internet, Paula Rooney

Paula Rooney is a Boston-based writer who has followed the tech industry for almost two decades.

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Opera is NOT open source

Errm, Paula, FYI, Opera is "free to use", but is not open source...Opera IS the reason for the EU's ruling on the "ballot box" resolution.
wizard57m@...
17th Dec 2009
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I agree

You can't find the source code for Opera, so it is as open source as IE is.
Linux Geek
17th Dec 2009
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RE: Open source browsers put pressure on IE in 2009

Of course, Microsofts Windows operating system monopoly still owns the market, but were not sure how long that will matter, especially as software-as-a-service models take off and Googles web-focused operating system is prepped for release. k
zakkiromi
26th May
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RE: Open source browsers put pressure on IE in 2009

I think when people begin to understand they have a choice the use of "built in" browsers will drop ipad bag blog sutudeg education news and pclos hwdb dramatically. l
edward polling
4th Jul
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RE: Open source browsers put pressure on IE in 2009

@zakkiromi Thanks for sharing. i really appreciate it that you shared with us such a informative post..
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jurgenliastr
18th Aug
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Sorry Paula, software-as-a-service

is not going to take off as you believe, so Google's web based OS isn't going to be much of a game changer for anyone other then Canonical or the like.

Agreed, it will serve a niche but beyond that, nothing more.
John Zern
17th Dec 2009
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SaaS not taking off

John - It's not a matter of IF SaaS is going to dominate, it's a matter of when. It dominates some markets already, just ask Oracle/Siebel Systems how they feel about Salesforce.com. In the elearning market, LMS market share is barely changing but we are growing our SaaS product http://www.digitalchalk.com by 16%-22% each month.
Chalkboy
17th Dec 2009
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Interesting to learn

How mistaken are the CIOs and others that are charged with purchase decisions. Glad to know we have you to set the record straight.

I just returned from a breakfast panel representing NASA, DISA, DOE and DHS. All are pushing ahead with S-A-A-S as an imperative to meet responsiveness, affordability, scalability, security and sustainability demands, as the public and Congressional overseers demand ever more from public systems. These guys are closely attuned to their industry counterparts; industry is more close-mouthed in public for competitive reasons, but shares one-on-one, so we get a good read on their thinking. Over 300, including the usual curmudgeons, in the audience, and not one questioned the overall direction. Plenty of questions about the how's but none of whether's.

But you now offer us the definitive pronouncement that time's arrow will not move forward.

How fortunate we are!

Now where did I put that punched card deck?
IT_User
17th Dec 2009
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When companies start having problems

with SaaS, because of problems outside their control, you may see companies going back to stand-along software. Internet goes down, SaaS company gets hit with a DDos, the company's data's is stolen. Can you imagine a lawyer's case being stolen because they used Google docs, and the perp posted it over the net? The list goes on and on.

I've used SaaS in the past three years and I can tell you this. It's a major joke so far. Half the time, the software works ONLY in IE (And I detest using IE because of the security hazards). When the data is time critical, it's delayed because you need a password to get into the site. Not to mention the SaaS I've been forced to use is so inflexible, it wants to reject any data that isn't within a very narrow range or will not allow blank fields - especially on data that cannot or should not be filled.

Other problems; you need some sort of proprietary plug in, or some sort of proprietary software that needs installed first. (Which runs the risk of malware - think Sony's root-kit). All this could be solved, if the web site/programmers listened to their clients. But do they?

Bah. Give me even MS Office over SaaS. (Although I'd use OpenOffice myself.)

- Kc
kcredden2
17th Dec 2009
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I notice you qualified your statement

with the word "may," so there's no argument here. Otherwise, I might point out that you've made the assumption that a data center run by a company in another line of business could do a better job of ensuring connectivity, avoiding DDos, preventing data from being stolen, etc, than a huge firm specializing in these services. Yeah, believe it.

The challenges you've pointed out in your experience - requiring IE, the password implementation, slow and inflexible, requiring proprietary plug in - are manifestations of implementation decisions made by a particular vendor. I agree; avoid that vendor.

Let's see - you're going to run enterprise applications with MS Office? I would be interested in that architectural model.
IT_User
17th Dec 2009
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SaaS ... in my opinion has a long way to go

but eventually - yes it will be viable. And a lot of people are putting a lot of faith in Google OS... They have a long way to go to hit something like Apple/MS/Linux have. Google is starting to have the same KneePad crowd as Apple...kind of funny
ItsTheBottomLine
18th Dec 2009
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Not a niche ...

The majority of users spend their time online. Their requirements are not as sophisticated as those in a corporation or tech firms. Google docs already satisfy the needs of people who do not have need for high security or absolute privacy.

Look at Facebook and Twitter. People want to be out there - reading, chatting, sharing. I believe it will the other way round - sophisticated and specialized software installed locally in computers will serve special needs of the minority of users in the future.
orionds
19th Dec 2009
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SAAS will dominate in the long run but not atop a Google OS style OS.

Googles long term problem is its basically flawed cloud network model.

This embryonic cloud based noosphere we all call the internet is just a
single instance of a general class of processes that have been called
COMPLEX LIVING SYSTEMS. After millions of years of statistical trial an
error nature has blazed the trail to demonstrate the recurring themes
that appear to be mandatory for successful homeostasis in such
systems. With out going into a long song and dance about these
recurring mandatory attributes, I will simple beg that you temporarily
humor me by accepting the following as one of these mandatory
attributes. COMPLEX LIVING SYSTEMS utilize distributed redundancy of
function as their key defense against the inevitable errors that arise out
of massive complexity. Every LIVING CELL carries the complete DNA
methods blueprint plus historical fall back DNA. Every INDIVIDUAL
ORGANISM in a species carries the complete repertoire of
environmental interactive attributes and abilities(methods). Even at the
simpler atomic level every atom contain, internal to itself, all the
methods required to behave and recombine repeatably as a member of
its class should. None of the above individual members of a class must
check back with the mother ship to access its behavioral methods. They
are all locally redundant.

Back to Googles flawed Cloud Network Model.
Sooner or lated the evolution of network computing models will return
to this time tested strategic necessity. This means in the context of
cloud computing that each user node must keep all its methods and
data structures locally self contained so as to support independent,
organic, recombinant, evolutionary possibilities separate from those
enforced by a central mother ship repository of acceptable methods.
The user nodes can self operate when not connected. The user nodes
can move their complete methods & data set realities to another
mother ship server at will. The user nodes can reassemble a mother
ship's data and methods central repository as an ultimate backup to
catastrophe. This in no way precludes the user nodes from choosing to
update and synchronize their methods and/or local data sets with the
central cloud mother ship either automatically or manually. Local
autonomy of methods and data sets also offer the choice to keep local
versioning of methods and data sets as a fall back autonomy insurance
strategy. I could go on but I am sure you tire! I know I do.

Anyway - here is where both Apple and Microsoft have a long term
serious advantage over Google OS. They have deep and wide OS tools
that can support this necessity to maintain a strategy of distributed
autonomous methods and data sets. A strategy nature historically
seems to indicate is the proven path to creating STABLE COMPLEX
LIVING SYSTEMS. No non-compliant systems get out alive.

Oh - One last thing!
I am not particularly a Microsoft fan but we should not count them out.
With new more visionary leadership they could be a serious contender.
They have a large talented team and a very valuable store of intellectual
capital. A serious three way race would be the Holy Trinity of
competitive innovation.
raycote
21st Dec 2009
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Net Applicationds doesn't measure...

My understanding is that Net Applications just measures usage share on selected public internet sites.

It doesn't measure web browser usage on companies internal networks. In that sector, it's a safe bet that IE will continue to dominate.
Tom12Tom
17th Dec 2009
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Disagree

I disagree with your statement. If the company I work for is any indication (and it's a very large software vendor), over half of the employees use Firefox.
Eleutherios
18th Dec 2009
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