Microsoft fears competition from within!
Microsoft claim that the biggest competition for its new Internet Explorer 8 is actually previous versions of its own browsers. This, despite fierce competition from Firefox, Apple and most recently web search giant Google.
Recent statistics from Net Applications suggest that Internet Explorer 8 now accounts for around 15 percent of market share within the browser market, with Mozillas latest Firefox 3.5 coming in at 8.8 percent.
However, these are by no means the market leaders. Internet Explorer 6 still boasts a 25 percent share of the market, with Internet Explorer 7 commanding a 21 percent audience and Firefox 3 coming in at 12.5 percent.
Amy Barzdukas, general manager for Internet Explorer at Microsoft, concedes that Microsoft could be doing more to persuade users to switch over to the latest version of its web browser. Barzdukas insists that rather than turning to rivals for inspiration when looking to develop a new website browser, they instead prefer to listen to what the consumer wants.
Barzdukas feels that other competitors have turned to "pr spin" to encourage downloads, while Microsoft has instead listened to what the consumer is concerned about. In this day and age, this typically means concerns over identity theft or online security, rather than glossy interfaces or how many third party plugins the web browser supports.
