It feels like browsers in general has become to commoditized for people to even bother. How much does it really matter these days if you use chrome, firefox,opera etc. It used to be that it DID matter that you used IE because they were so hopefully after (after they were before netscape) but these days it more of a popularity contest.
Every browser pretty much presents webpages correctly according to modern CSS standards.
Every browser is fast enough that the difference is negligible
Not many people use any major add-on features of browsers, except like adblocker and stuff like that.
I really don't understand why this is an area that's worth competing in anymore, except providing an browser for your mobile ecosystem (chrome for android, spartan for windows phone, safari for apple, whatever). Webpages are still needed but apps are sweeping the field and providing better UX for the webpages that people use the most.
And downvote me as you might but firefox days are sadly counted
I think Microsoft feels it needs to provide a better browser because the popular alternative is controlled by their competitor. Chrome itself does its best to make sure you get pulled into the Google ecosystem - you need a Google account just to use the sync feature. On top of that, when you switch Chrome to its full-screen Windows 8 app mode (for touch screen support, etc.) it basically turns into a clone of Chrome OS:
Yeah, I think Chrome is the browser to beat right now... but does most people really use the sync feature? I might be wrong but my guess would be no, and that's true for a lot of the other "additional value" features that browsers add
It would be interesting to see those metrics on sync adoption.
I can tell you from my own personal, anecdotal experience, it's one of those things as soon as someone knows about (and fully understands) they typically become Chrome users everywhere because of it. I found this to be the case for our Apps domain users at work and even friends & family who just have personal Google accounts and maybe even use iPhones, etc. It's powerful to show someone that your history, bookmarks, and even open tabs across devices stay in sync. I find that if one isn't "creeped out" by that, they usually think it's extremely convenient.
Keep the 1990s in mind when considering this. We all know how dangerous it can be when one organisation monopolizes usage, and then has control over the future of browser functionality.
The tables might have turned, but Microsoft keeping competition up is necessary to maintain a healthy ecosystem.
Comments
It feels like browsers in general has become to commoditized for people to even bother. How much does it really matter these days if you use chrome, firefox,opera etc. It used to be that it DID matter that you used IE because they were so hopefully after (after they were before netscape) but these days it more of a popularity contest.
Every browser pretty much presents webpages correctly according to modern CSS standards.
Every browser is fast enough that the difference is negligible
Not many people use any major add-on features of browsers, except like adblocker and stuff like that.
I really don't understand why this is an area that's worth competing in anymore, except providing an browser for your mobile ecosystem (chrome for android, spartan for windows phone, safari for apple, whatever). Webpages are still needed but apps are sweeping the field and providing better UX for the webpages that people use the most.
And downvote me as you might but firefox days are sadly counted
I think Microsoft feels it needs to provide a better browser because the popular alternative is controlled by their competitor. Chrome itself does its best to make sure you get pulled into the Google ecosystem - you need a Google account just to use the sync feature. On top of that, when you switch Chrome to its full-screen Windows 8 app mode (for touch screen support, etc.) it basically turns into a clone of Chrome OS:
http://i.imgur.com/YJ1OJqi.png
Yeah, I think Chrome is the browser to beat right now... but does most people really use the sync feature? I might be wrong but my guess would be no, and that's true for a lot of the other "additional value" features that browsers add
It would be interesting to see those metrics on sync adoption.
I can tell you from my own personal, anecdotal experience, it's one of those things as soon as someone knows about (and fully understands) they typically become Chrome users everywhere because of it. I found this to be the case for our Apps domain users at work and even friends & family who just have personal Google accounts and maybe even use iPhones, etc. It's powerful to show someone that your history, bookmarks, and even open tabs across devices stay in sync. I find that if one isn't "creeped out" by that, they usually think it's extremely convenient.
I certainly do; its a pretty significant convenience if you are a device-hopper.
Keep the 1990s in mind when considering this. We all know how dangerous it can be when one organisation monopolizes usage, and then has control over the future of browser functionality.
The tables might have turned, but Microsoft keeping competition up is necessary to maintain a healthy ecosystem.
MS has a couple of good reasons for a fresh start:
#1 Spartan gets rid of all the legacy back-compatibility code that was holding them back.
#2 They added very interesting features that I haven't seen in other browsers (i.e colaboration)