Internet Explorer still 'key' to Windows
2012-10-30 14:06
Johannesburg - The browser remains critical to the Microsoft operating system, and despite losing market share to Firefox and Chrome, the US-based company is determined to fight back with Internet Explorer 10.
"We continue to make significant investment around Internet Explorer. We cannot afford to lose that piece," Microsoft SA managing director Mteto Nyati told News24.
IE 10 has been retooled for Windows 8 which the company launched on Friday and Nyati said that the challenges posed by the Mozilla and Google browsers had pushed Microsoft to produce a better web browser.
"Right now we have been faced with a lot of challenges, with competitors coming from everywhere, but that is fine with us, because it continues to help us step up our game."
One of the key developments in IE 10 has been the move toward the HTML 5 standard which was introduced in 2011. The standard was originally proposed by Opera Software and it allows for better multimedia content presentation on the internet.
New technology
"If you look at Internet Explorer 10 - its capabilities, how fast it is - the fact that we are basing it on HTML 5: It will do great things that our competitors are unable to do," Nyati asserted.
HTML 5 is a new technology and Microsoft conceded that it was taking a gamble in moving to embrace the standard.
"We have changed the game; we are upping the game and we believe that the route we are choosing is a big bet, but it's a bet that makes sense and it’s a bet that we believe our customers will embrace," said Nyati.
As of September 2012, Internet Explorer had a third place market share of 16.2%. Google's Chrome was the dominant browser with a 44% share, followed by Firefox at 32%.
"It [IE] was declining and right now we have arrested the decline with Internet Explorer 9. Now with the functionality we've put in 10, we believe that it's going, but it's too early for us to be saying anything," Nyati said.
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