What browser do you use in Windows? Apparently if you live in Europe, the answer is a resounding Safari. That is right folks, in the great ballot poll, Firefox lost out to the lowly webkit-based Safari.
Apple must be so proud, their baby is still not a great browser, but is all the rage.
Given the long term discomfort of the EU about the inclusion of Internet Explorer, notwithstanding their silence of the imperialism of Notepad, Microsoft has offered to include at the launch of Windows to provide options. When a user first fires up Windows, they will get to select a browser to install.
Here comes the problem, the browsers will be listed alphabetically. When you test the user selections, the votes come in: IE, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and then Opera. This is a horror show for Firefox, a great bump for Chrome and Safari, and a free boost for the oft ignored Opera.
Problem is, when you put FireFox that far down on the list, it loses to Safari. Guess who is hating the EU tonight all of a sudden? Don’t expect this to stick.
I thought the whole ‘EU’ thing had been scrapped? Pretty certain I read an article that they had scraped that idea and Win7 WAS shipping with IE8 after all?
MaFt
Not according to the latest news, but it could change again. You know how fast things change.
Perhaps I’m missing something here – how is:
“IE, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and then Opera”
alphabetical order?
Or is it by company name, i.e. “Apple Safari”? In which case surely Microsoft IE would come after both Apple Safari and Google Chrome?
Perhaps a link to an original document would help…
Fixed, sorry.
What did you fix? I see no change – it still says alphabetical order, and the browsers are still not listed in alphabetical order.
Not trying to be a pain here – just trying to understand how Firefox wouldn’t end up before Safari in this list if it’s alphabetical.
Me too
But if I hold down shift and reload it shows an updated article.
Still the same here.
Also, ‘FireFox’..?
I’m not sure what you were attempting to get across here. The title of your post says Microsoft Lets Safari Beat Firefox In Europe, implying that Safari has a higher percentage of users than Firefox in Europe, which is entirely not true.
http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-eu-monthly-200809-200910 Firefox has nearly 35% market share currently, Safari is around 5 or 6%.
Moreover, you misspelled Microsoft in your title. Which makes sense, because you say that Microsoft is also going to list the browsers alphabetically, and then the order you say they’ll be presented is anything but.
There is so much fail in this post I could go on forever.
Thank you for wasting my time and making it clear to the web, just how much you care about web-development.
First of all, read the post, the winning of Safari over FireFox is only relevant in this one ballot. I never claimed that Safari was beating FireFox in all of Europe. Provacative titles, get used to them.
Also, we were in a bit of a rush to get the post up, so there were two mistakes, both were fixed within 4 minutes of having the post up, so relax, if you could.
And, as a side note, I do really care about web development, but thanks for assuming that due to a typo I do not.
I what alphabet does S for Safari come before F for FireFox?
if they will be listed alphabetically, shouldn’t be like:
- Chrome
- Firefox
- IE
- Opera
- Safari?
Or maybe they have their own alphabet?
i agree does S for Safari come before F for FireFox?
who did they ask for this poll?
people who love apple products?
i dont know anyone who uses a browser different than IE that isnt FF or opera.
Well, I use chrome. :) Also, check the edit.
Sorry, confused.
What poll? I’ve read this twice and still can’t see what poll we are talking about.
“the browsers will be listed alphabetically, the votes come in:” If they are listed alphabetically then when do votes come in too it.
The article cites:
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/10/microsoft-giving-away-another-777-copies-of-windows-7.ars
as a source, but I’m not sure of the relevance.
Looks an interesting article, but perhaps a few edits for clarity?
Thanks
Chris
Replace: “If they are listed alphabetically then when do votes come in too it.”
With: “If they are listed alphabetically then *where* do votes come in *to* it.”
One day I will learn English and learn to type.
Fixed.
Come on guys, they are alphabetical based on the full official name of the browser… Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft IE, Mozilla Firefox.
If Mozilla has a problem with it then change the official name of the browser or the company to just Firefox. However, every company is all about building a brand, so they always have to make the name of their products start with the company name instead of just letting the product stand on it’s own. They could make it Firefox by Mozilla…
They could also really add a touch of class to the argument and sue Apple on the grounds that the company name starting with and “A” is an unfair market advantage… :) Mozilla makes a fine browser, but it sounds like they employ some arrogant idiots…
well, the post says:
IE, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and then Opera.
If they are alphabetical based on the full official name of the browser, why Microsoft IE comes first of Apple Safari?
I don’t think you can say they are in alphabetical order, maybe you can say that the browsers except IE are in alphabetical order…
Apologies to everyone about the errors in this post. I had just written about Windows 7, copied in the wrong source URL. My mistake.
Also, I clarified the information about the poll, so it should read more easily now. Sorry for all the confusion.
See this article, which actually explains the process:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2353906,00.asp
“Microsoft has agreed not to list IE as the first choice. Instead, the top five browsers will be listed in alphabetical order, followed by the next seven most popular browsers, also in alphabetical order.”
This order (i.e. first five, second seven) was to be determined by a ballot of users, which is where the vote comes in.
The problem is, unless the browsers are listed in company order, there’s still no way Safari gets listed ahead of Firefox, which defeats the whole premise of this article.
take a look again.. The official name of Firefox is Mozilla Firefox… Just like the official name of Safari is actually Apple Safari and all the browsers I listed in my post above. They aren’t listing by the company name but actually the registered official name of the browser.
Ah – it appears that, in tiny writing under the post on the right, there is a link to the original post which explains it all and backs up the claim that Firefox (i.e. Mozilla) is “furious”.
Might be nice to have that link in the text of the article to save a bunch of time.
I am not assuming that based on a “typo”, but to correct you, yet again, there was more than one. I’m assuming it based on the ridiculousness of all of this. “lowly webkit-based safari” clearly google agrees with you on that one, which is why the built Chrome off webkit.
“their baby is still not a great browser” well then what is? Safari’s CSS3 support is in the lead of all the major five browsers, as well as its HTML5 support.
“Problem is, when you put FireFox that far down on the list, it loses to Safari.” Chrome is in front of Firefox in your “alphabetical” list, why won’t Firefox lose to Chrome? Chrome has more users in Europe than Safari.
If your title is only relevant to this article, then you should imply that in the title. Your title is such an incredible I dunno.
Lastly, FireFox? Are we camel casing Firefox now? Have you ever been to firefox.com? Better yet, are you using Firefox 3.5? Look up at the page title in the top of the browser. After every page title, there is “- Mozilla Firefox”.
So once again, you are showing clearly that you are not even familiar with what you are talking about.
I am relaxed, if you can’t take constructive criticism, don’t post things online, especially on a site that gets mad traffic. Moreover, I have a right to be upset, your false title caught my eye, and I wasted time reading this completely illegitimate article. That’s like false advertising, or window-baiting.
Thanks for keeping it professional!
Cheers,
J. Albert Bowden II
“Apple must be so proud, their baby is still not a great browser, but is all the rage.”
Since when is Safari not a great browser? It’s usually at the top of the speed charts at any given time, is usually the most standards compliant browser, supports new and innovative technologies, and has a wonderful design and user interface. Firefox and Chrome are also great for their own reasons. Can’t they all be great browsers? Was that dig at Safari really necessary?
I’m sorry, but I don’t find this article -that- hard to understand, though there still is a small error in the article. (It says “IE, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and then Opera” where it’s supposed to say “Safari, Chrome, IE, Firefox, and then Opera”, note the position of IE.)
What (I think) Alex Wilhelm’s goal is, is emphasizing the point made by Mozilla in that specific blog post. I’m just not sure whether this article is meant sarcastic or genuinely annoyed.
As to the point in that blogpost: I don’t think Microsoft’s plan was to show any favoritism, but the current setup indeed won’t help Mozilla. I can think of three reactions people will have:
1) Hey, I recognise that ‘e’ ==> click IE
2) Brow..ser..? ==> click first item (Safari)
3) Browser? the search thing? Google right? ==> click Chrome
It is a well known psychological phenomenon that given five choices in a row a person will more often select the second from the right. It is a percentage game but according to that theory Safari and Opera will be least likely ones people select and IE and FIrefox most likely.
Of course, brand recognition plays a large influence but it merely supports the theory (rather often used in magic by the way).
C