Analysts: IE won't be easy to defeat

Alternative browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, may be aimed at toppling Microsoft's reign, but analysts say Internet Explorer's (IE) "overwhelming dominance" in the workplace will be difficult to defeat.

The main reason for the Microsoft browser's seemingly stranglehold position is the near ubiquity of Microsoft products used in enterprises today.

Ray Valdes, Gartner's research vice president, said in an interview with ZDNet Asia: "Due to longstanding accumulations of dependencies, most enterprises will find it difficult or unfeasible to switch from Internet Explorer to an alternative browser, such as Firefox, Opera or Safari."

Valdes said it would be "difficult, if not impossible" for the average organization to abandon IE in favor of these alternative browsers. He noted that many software systems and applications are dependent on IE's HTML rendering engine embedded into other Microsoft applications, such as e-mail client Microsoft Outlook.

Another driving aspect is IE's administrative functions that allow enterprises to centrally manage and administer the browser, Valdes added. "Unlike Firefox, Microsoft provides mechanisms that meet this requirement, such as group policy objects and the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK).

"A key enterprise requirement is the ability to centrally manage and administer the browser... As a result, for many organizations, abandoning IE and replacing it with another browser is unrealistic," he said.

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Through these management tools, for example, companies can more efficiently control user access and better manage security policies related to Web browsing.

According to IDC, IE's dominance is also perpetuated by the rest of the IT industry, creating a cyclical relationship.

Because IE currently has the dominant marketshare, makers of Web sites, software applications and other components that are accessible via a Web browser, will place the highest priority on ensuring their products support IE, Mark Levitt, IDC's program vice president for collaboration and enterprise 2.0 strategies, told ZDNet Asia.

While new features offered in Firefox or Chrome could help propel either browser's position, if they showed "sufficient advantages over IE", Levitt said Microsoft would unlikely give the competition enough time to close the gap before it releases similar features for IE.

Google's New Browser: Chrome

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - If Google’s new Chrome web browser succeeds, going online will be an all-Google experience.

“The web has evolved pretty dramatically, but the underlying browser architecture is still very similar to the original Netscape browser,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s vice president of product management, said at a press conference Tuesday at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters.

Google (GOOG) says Chrome was designed to be “streamlined and simple.” The browser is available for free download in 100 countries starting Tuesday. Initially it will only work on Windows computers, though versions for Mac and Linux operating systems are being developed.


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According to Pichai, Google’s intent is to “drive the whole web platform forward” and thus drive more people to the search giant.

At first glance, Chrome doesn’t look all that different from Mozilla’s Firefox, a competing web browser. But unlike Firefox, Chrome combined the address and search boxes to let people search for information and websites by entering keywords into the same bar.

“What we did is we smashed the two boxes together,” said Ben Goodger, a software engineer at Google and former Mozilla employee. “We call it the ‘Omni Box.’ “

The Omni Box lets users search for information and go to websites directly by typing into the same bar. Other Chrome features include movable “tabs” and an “incognito” window that lets people browse without saving their search history - a feature found on other browsers and which bloggers have nicknamed the “porn mode.”

Google also said its new web browser will be faster and more reliable than existing browsers. On Chrome, each tab operates separately, so if one crashes it won’t affect the main browser window.


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Chrome is being released as an open source project, meaning developers will have access to build new features for the browser. Google said its engineers worked on the new browser for about two years.

“It is a huge investment for us,” said Pichai, who added that many Googlers are already using Chrome - including the company’s co-founder Larry Page, who made an appearance at the press conference.

But Chrome is entering a competitive market which Microsoft (MSFT) has dominated for years. The company’s Internet Explorer, which comes pre-installed on computers, accounts for 72% of the browser market. Runner-up Firefox has a 20% share.

“The browser landscape is highly competitive,” Dean Hachamovitz, general manager of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, told Fortune. “But people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online.”

So is there room for another browser?

Yes, says Citi Investment Research analyst Mark Mahaney.

“There is market demand for a browser that is speedier, simpler, safer, and stabler than IE,” Mahaney wrote in a report Tuesday morning. “What is unknown is whether Chrome is that browser.”

Source: Fortune

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