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Browser market share numbers are always interesting because they can be interpreted in a variety of ways. We’ve said for some time now that the thing we care about most is that the web experiences we all enjoy are getting better every day through a modern browser like Internet Explorer 9. The growth of IE9 on Windows 7 has been exciting to watch since our launch in March.
Last month, we mentioned that IE9 was on a path to be the number one modern browser on Windows 7 worldwide. According to Net Applications, IE9 usage share on Windows 7 worldwide is now higher than all versions of Chrome and all versions of Firefox – second only to IE8. That’s great news for consumers and developers alike who can benefit from the richer web experiences and standards support in IE9!
Source: Net Applications, November 2011 (monthly data).
In the US, the numbers are even more exciting - where IE9 growth continues and will soon be the number one browser on Windows 7.
If you haven’t already made the move to Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7, try it by visiting www.beautyoftheweb.com.
Roger Capriotti Director, Internet Explorer Marketing
Way back in 2003, Jeffrey Zeldman wrote the seminal “Designing with Web Standards”, a book that among other things, encouraged developers not to write code for specific browsers, rather code against web standards that will work in any browser that has implemented the standards. That’s something the Internet Explorer team fundamentally agrees with – writing code once and serving that same markup across browsers.
On the front cover of the book, Zeldman chose to wear a blue beanie. Since 2006, developers have annually donned the blue beanie in support of standards and in honor of Zeldman’s book. This is now the 5th year, and around campus today, we’re pulling on a blue beanie to show our support.
I grabbed a camera this morning and took a shot of some the IE engineering team that work closely with the standards groups sporting beanies.
Here we have (from left to right):
Dean Hachmanovitch, John Hrvartin, Sylvain Galineau , Kris Krueger, John Jansen, Jason Weber, Patrick Dengler, Rob Mauceri.
We even managed to get a beanie in some prominent places within the IE building.
If you support the cause, get on board.
- Jason #bbd11
Are you ready for the biggest shopping day of the year? Shops have started advertising their offers and the deals look as great as ever. It’s really easy to score one of the deals from the comfort of your home because 78% of retailers will have cyber-Monday offers as well. So if you are going to join the millions of others doing their holiday shopping online, just remember to use some precautions. The last thing that you want is to be a victim of a Black Friday scam or end up with is a hacked email account and a stolen identity in the hustle of online shopping.
So how do you ensure a safer online shopping spree? Just follow these simple steps:
1. Keep your computer up to date and install anti-virus.
Anti-virus software is like your computer’s immune system. It can help keep viruses and other computer infections at bay. Just be careful to get Anti-virus software from trustworthy sources, because scammers are known to peddle fake anti-virus solutions. Microsoft hosts a site that lists Anti-virus software compatible with Windows. If you’re looking for a free solution, check out Microsoft Security Essentials.
Also, remember to keep your Windows operating system up to date with the latest security updates. You should also check to see if you are running the latest version of Adobe Flash or use a tool like Secunia’s PSI to check if other software installed on your computer is patched as well.
2. Make sure you’re running a modern browser like Internet Explorer 9
For a safer online shopping experience, a modern browser is a must. Your browser is your entry point to the web – it’s also your first line of defense against online attacks. Newer browsers contain updated security features that are better suited to protect you from attacks common today. To take advantage of these security enhancements, all you have to do is to upgrade to the latest available version of your browser. If you’re curious, http://www.yourbrowsermatters.com from Microsoft shows you which security features your browser has and how a modern browser can help protect you as shown in the video below.
3. Look for the lock in the address bar of your browser for online shops
You don’t want hackers to take a peek at your personal information while you’re shopping, and the best way to keep those prying eyes away is to secure your connection to the online shop. When you type in a website’s address, make sure it starts with an “HTTPS” and not HTTP. If the site is legitimate a lock should appear in the address bar, and its presence means that the connection between your browser and the website is secured – so it’s harder for an attacker to get your credit card information. If the connection cannot be secured, Internet Explorer will color the address bar red and give you a warning letting you know that “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate.” Proceeding further could put your personal information in jeopardy.
4. Look for the warning signs from your browser.
A browser can help you make safer choices by letting you know if an application you’re about to download or the page you’re about to visit is potentially harmful. Watch out for these warnings. If Internet Explorer blocks a website, it will show a big red screen to let you know that the website you’re visiting is reported to be unsafe. The SmartScreen filter in Internet Explorer, used to block such sites, is highly effective. It has been shown to block 96.2% of socially engineered malware. So if you end up on a site which is blocked, or contains content that has been blocked, don’t proceed further.
When it comes to downloads, Internet Explorer 9 can help you make better decisions as well. The Application Reputation feature in the browser only warns you if an application you’ve downloaded is of higher risk. With Internet Explorer 9 you won’t see unhelpful warnings for lower risk downloads; meaning that you’ll more like to pay attention when it counts. So if you see a warning like the one below, be careful.
5. If you’re doing all of your shopping on a few sites, just pin them to your Windows 7 taskbar.
With Internet Explorer 9 you can pin websites to your Windows 7 taskbar. So if you’re shopping on a handful of sites, just pin them. Not only will it be easier to access them, this simple action can help you keep you safer as well. For example, once you pin the HTTPS version of a site, you won’t have to remember to type in HTTPS every single time. Also, by pinning a site you’re less likely to get phished if you make it a habit to access the site via the pinned icon.
Following these simple steps can help make your holiday shopping experience more secure and safe - so keep them in mind when you go hunting for those deals. If you already know this , then check to make sure that those you care about also enjoy a safer holiday shopping experience. Thanksgiving is a perfect time to do this, with family around, why not give their PCs a checkup and upgrade their browsers? After all, this Friday does happen to be “Update Your Parents’ Browser” day.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Internet Explorer team!
For many people, going home for the holidays is a step back in time. Not just because you may be returning to your childhood home, but because you might see IE6 or IE7 on your parents’ home PC.
While most people think of the Friday after Thanksgiving as merely Black Friday, the folks at The Atlantic have another idea we can get behind – Friday is now “Update Your Parents’ Browser Day!”
On behalf of your web developer friends everywhere, why not help them upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 if they’re on Windows XP, or Internet Explorer 9 if they’re on Windows Vista or Windows 7?
All you need now is a good distraction, and this is something we can help with. The IE team put their pre-tryptophan heads together and came up with the Top-10 moments to update your parents’ browser this Thanksgiving holiday.
Top-10 Moments To Update Your Parents’ Browser
10. When they’re manning the fire extinguisher dealing with the yearly deep-fried turkey accident.
9. When they’re telling your cousins “when I was your age” stories.
8. When they’re face down in the eggnog punch.
7. When they’re fighting over the right way to carve a turkey.
6. When your mom kicks you out of the kitchen for peeling potatoes “the wrong way.”
5. When they’re sent to the grocery store at 2PM on Thanksgiving Day for extra cranberries.
4. When they’re sitting at the Adult’s table (rally the other kids to help).
3. When they’re standing in a Black Friday line.
2. When they’re untangling Christmas lights.
And the number one time to update your parents’ browser is…
1. When they’re distracted by grilling you about when you’re going to get a real job, when you’re going to settle down, and when you’re going to give them grandchildren.
So watch for these moments and many more to help them make the upgrade to a modern web browser today. Web developers everywhere will thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving from the IE team!
#upgradeyourparents
As we mentioned last week, we had the opportunity to sponsor and participate in the first ever W3C HTML5 Developer Conference, W3Conf. Billed as “Practical Standards for Web Professionals” and focusing on “HTML5 and the Open Web Platform”, the conference provided two days of fantastic content and discussion between both browser vendors and the developer community. The sessions focused on the standards ready to use today as well as a glimpse of standards still in progress, giving developers practical methods for implementing HTML5 features into their sites. All of the sessions are available via HTML5 video here.
Joining us were folks from Amazon, Google, Mozilla, Nokia and Opera, as well as some notable web personas such as Grant Skinner, John Allsopp, Paul Irish, Divya Manian and Faruk Ateş.
Jeff Jaffe, CEO of W3C, summed up the goal of W3Conf well: "In the last several months, W3C has embarked on a strategic move to focus on the broader Web ecosystem. W3Conf plays a key role in popularizing standard Web technologies among designers and developers. I invite people to get involved in some of our other recent initiatives such as W3C Community Groups, which are growing the legions of innovators that participate directly in W3C."
Having worked with developers for years now, I’ve heard the rhetoric that browser vendors don’t get along countless times. When you experience something like W3Conf and in particular the browser panel, you can see how closely vendors do work together with a genuine interest in moving the web forward. I thought a highlight of the panel was when Paul Cotton responded to a question about vendors continuing to work together on the standards process. “The answer is a clear yes,” Paul said. He believes that getting the community of developers involved in the process will reduce the time to complete specifications, focus the discussion on where the spec needs work and in return, make for a more interoperable web as those specs are implemented in a standard way. (Video links are in MP4 format, head to the conference web site for alternate formats)
Beyond the browser vendors working on the standards, it’s clear that the process requires direct involvement from the thousands of developers that will be building web sites with the technology. This is being made possible by the W3C through Community Groups. Through these groups, the W3C is evolving to engage with developers directly.
I got a chance to talk to a number of developers at the conference about HTML5. They were all excited about the possibilities for their own web sites and were pretty amazed at the kinds of applications that can be developed today using the technology. One session was devoted to a tour of the top sites, by my colleague Giorgio Sardo. Check out some of the crowd favorites including; Tron Legacy comicbook, WorldsBiggestPacman and NeverMindTheBullets.
Mike Bostock of Square gave an inspiring talk on Data Visualization with web standards, representing relationships within data sets with some amazing graphics.
One of the most practical talks of the conference was given by Divya Manian on CSS gotchas.
It was great to see the turn out and the vendors all working together to advance the web so closely. Remember that you can catch HTML5 video of all the sessions here.
- Jason