IE9 Top Browser on Windows 7, IE6 On the Way Out

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 04 Jan 2012

As 2011 came to a close, the team behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) was glad to announce that IE9 is the top browser on Windows 7. All versions of Google’s Chrome and all versions of Mozilla’s Firefox do not have a higher usage share on Windows 7 as IE9 does (as of November 2011). Back in November, the only browser that had a higher usage share on Windows 7 than IE9 was IE8 – but that changed in December. In the last month of 2011, IE9 surpassed IE8 and became the browser with the largest usage share on Windows 7.



While IE9 is growing in popularity, the now quite old IE6 (which came bundled with the decade-old Windows XP operating system) is on the way out – and Microsoft doesn’t mind at all. The Redmond-based software giant even has a site dedicated to the demise of IE6. The site was launched back in March; you can visit it by clicking here.

Microsoft wants to determine and encourage IE6 users to give up on the outdated browser and more on to something newer, like IE8 or IE9. And it seems to be working. Roger Capriotti, Director, Internet Explorer Marketing, recently announced that IE6 usage in the US has dropped below 1% (just like in Austria, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway). Furthermore, IE6 usage in the Czech Republic, Mexico, Ukraine, Portugal and the Philippines is also dropping down to 1%.

Microsoft is doing more to get people to give up on IE6 – automatic upgrades to the latest version of Internet Explorer. Starting this January, Microsoft will automatically upgrade Windows customers in Australia and Brazil who have turned on automatic updating via Windows Update.

Users who have declined previous installations of IE8 or IE9 through Windows Update will not be automatically updated. Organizations that do not want to have their browsers automatically upgraded, can be the IE8 and IE9 Automatic Update Blocker toolkit.



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