Content doesn't sell browsers because content isn't actually provided by the browsers, at most it's rendered by the browser. Yeah some content looks different from browser to browser, but most non-geeks would hardly notice. I've got three websites I use for IE, one's MS and the other two are poorly designed and get all whacky not in IE (well I guess the MS website is poorly designed too when you get right down to it). For everything else I use Netscape or Firefox depending on which button I hit first (haven't really decided which one I like better, it's a browser mostly I don't care).
Features are what sell products (or in this case encourage free downloading of products). The biggest two things pushing a decline in IE right now are security and tabbed browsing. Daily security alerts are free advertising for anything but IE, and a lot of people get really hooked on tabbed browsing once they first see it (I don't like it, I prefer multiple windows, alt-tab comes more naturally to me than ctrl-tab). The fact is MS stopped adding features to IE a while ago and now they're being left behind, not sure why they did it but they did and that's given the competition an opportunity. I doubt IE will drop below 2/3 of the market, the auto-installs from AOL and Windows itself will keep most non-curious people using it, but their share is dropping and part of why it's dropping is lack of features.
Nothing sells browsers – they are free.
because content isn't actually provided by the browsers
A browser with no content has no value whatsoever. (browsers display content, servers deliver content)
at most it's rendered by the browser
The main purpose of the Internet is to access content (the stuff rendered by the browser). No content, no need for a browser. A browser is a means to an end – not an end in and of itself.
Yeah some content looks different from browser to browser, but most non-geeks would hardly notice.
Not true. I am guessing you do no use the Internet for business purposes – just casual browsing. Companies spend a lot of money getting business software to look right. Years ago we supported both IE and Netscape and that was a giant nightmare often forcing us to write two globs of code – one for IE and one for Netscape. Which browser was “right” – it didn’t mater.
I've got three websites I use for IE, one's MS and the other two are poorly designed and get all whacky not in IE (well I guess the MS website is poorly designed too when you get right down to it).
I guess that makes you a geek – you notice content looks different in different browsers.
For everything else I use Netscape or Firefox depending on which button I hit first (haven't really decided which one I like better, it's a browser mostly I don't care).
The current version of Netscape sucks. Ditch that dog and use FireFox.
Content doesn't sell browsers because content isn't actually provided by the browsers, at most it's rendered by the browser.
Don’t be silly. All the World Wide Web has to offer is content. (browsers don’t sell – they are free). Content is what is in your browser – your browser has no other value. To you and everybody else reading this – all I am is content – while you may not be willing to pay for my words – I am just content.
You have the model backassward. Content sells and content is all the World Wide Web has to offer. The browser in merely a tool to view the content.
Features are what sell products (or in this case encourage free downloading of products).
Browser don’t sell – they are free. Just a tool to view content. Features do sell. Content is full of features. People pay for content – nobody I know of pays for a browser.
The biggest two things pushing a decline in IE right now are security and tabbed browsing.
Security yes – tab browsing, no way. (IE still dramatically dominates the “market” because it is the standard for content rendering)
Daily security alerts are free advertising for anything but IE
Nonsense. There are not daily security alerts for IE – but a security alert for FireFox was published today (or was it yesterday) and there is still no fix. Don’t be foolish and think the problems with IE are caused because MS is evil or some other nonsense. If FireFox ever dominates, it will be attacked just like IE. All software is vulnerable once the hacker takes aim