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Chrome Beats Internet Explorer On Any Given Sunday 212

tsamsoniw writes "Over the past three weeks, Chrome has beaten out Internet Explorer as the No. 1 browser in the world — but only on Sundays. In fact, according to data from StatCounter, Chrome usage is higher on weekends than it is during the work week, whereas IE usage drops on Saturdays and Sundays. Evidently, end-users prefer Chrome at home, which might be helping the browser get a foothold at work." (So apparently it's not just a freak occurrence.)
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Chrome Beats Internet Explorer On Any Given Sunday

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  • Chrome vs IE (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Johnny Mister ( 2610721 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @07:45AM (#39583423)
    There's a simple reason for this. Google has been heavily pushing Chrome to end-users via advertisements, their search engine, YouTube, and by making deals with computer manufacturers and software authors (adware) by paying them to spread Chrome. On workplaces this tactic doesn't really work as individual workers are often unable to install adware and other malware on their computers as IT knows what they are doing and have restricted that. It is quite similar to why most spam is sent from home computers - users don't know how to secure and maintain their systems.
    • Re:Chrome vs IE (Score:5, Insightful)

      by The MAZZTer ( 911996 ) <megazzt&gmail,com> on Thursday April 05, 2012 @07:47AM (#39583431) Homepage
      Not bad considering Microsoft pushes IE to end-users via it being pre-installed on their operating system...
      • Re:Chrome vs IE (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Flammon ( 4726 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @08:02AM (#39583579) Journal

        Which makes Firefox's share quite impressive considering that it was acquired on merit.

        • by dave420 ( 699308 )
          Or it looked familiar in the EU browser ballot page offered to EU Windows users...
        • by hkmwbz ( 531650 )
          Actually, Google was a heavy promoter of Firefox before Chrome was launched. They would pay you for successful installations if you linked to a special Firefox installer on your web site.
          • by Flammon ( 4726 )

            Actually, it was the other way around. Firefox promoted Google by making it the default search engine and that's how they got paid. I never saw Google promote Firefox. Do you have any references to that?

            • by hkmwbz ( 531650 )

              The other way around? Google started promoting Firefox because they were the default search engine in Firefox, and it was a way to combat IE. Then Firefox started growing thanks to, among other things, being aggressively pushed by Google.

              For the $1 thing, I found this [toprankblog.com] with a quick Google search. And from the horse's mouth [mozillazine.org], so to speak.

              • by Flammon ( 4726 )

                That's Google promoting Google Toolbar for Firefox. Google isn't promoting Firefox. Where have you seen an ad paid by Google promoting Firefox?

      • And some of us use Firefox, which doesn't push anything and has the best add-ons of any browser.

    • by Bad Ad ( 729117 )
      I dont think adware means what you think it means.
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by ElmoGonzo ( 627753 )
      Not to mention that there are STILL workplaces where the I.T. control freaks won't permit anything except Internet Exploder on their systems. One place I worked did a periodic scour and removed things like other browsers or email clients.
      • Re:Chrome vs IE (Score:5, Interesting)

        by SJHillman ( 1966756 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @07:57AM (#39583537)

        I work at one of those places and I'm one of those IT control freaks. There's a good reason for it - we don't have the time or the people to troubleshoot five different browsers. Just because a user prefers Chrome over IE doesn't mean they know how to use it. Even the simple stuff, like displaying a PDF in a browser. I wasted a half hour trying to teach a user how to print a PDF from Chrome because the buttons were slightly different than they were in IE (which she was already familiar with). It'd be great to standardize on Chrome or Opera, but then there would be more retraining involved and IE has a lot of (admittedly artificial) advantages, such as vendor support, AD control, etc. Then there's the fact that even if we did standardize on Chrome, some people would want Firefox. If we did Firefox, some people would want Safari. So in the end, IE is by far the easiest, cheapest and least time consuming option whether or not it's your favorite browser.

        • I'm also one of those IT control freaks and we're changing from using IE as the company browser and going to Chrome, the biggest drivers for this are commercial and IE lets itself down by being single platform and also locked into the OS upgrade cycle.

        • Why we require IE (Score:5, Interesting)

          by crazyjj ( 2598719 ) * on Thursday April 05, 2012 @08:25AM (#39583827)

          My workplace requires IE for one specific (but very important) reason. Everyone here uses Powerpoint (way too much, IMHO, but that's another issue), and Powerpoint has a built-in tool for converting presentations to webpages (meaning they can be posted on our intranet with forms and other pages). But those webpages only look right in IE. Pretty sneaky on MS's part. The alternative would be trying to convert tens-of-thousands-of-slides worth of presentations into html by hand. So it's a lot easier to just force people to use IE rather than having to deal with either the conversion costs or 2,000 phone calls with conversations like this:

          Caller: "These slides don't look right"

          Tech: "What browser are you using?"

          Caller: "I'm using the internet"

          Tech: "What is the picture you click on to get to the internet look like?"

          Caller: "I don't know, JUST FIX IT!!!"

          • by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

            Print the presentations as PDFs. They're much more compatible than the crap HTML output by your plugin, and can be saved and read anywhere.

            • But you can't animate flashing text and add fireworks and other stuff that's crucially important for the presentation to a PDF. ~

        • "You can install what you want, but we only support IE".

          Problem solved. That's how we do it. Users get approval for all kinds of crazy stuff, on the understanding that IT doesn't support it; and if anything breaks, weird stuff gets uninstalled/turned off for troubleshooting. I'm the Unix/Linux support guy so it's not really anything I worry about, but it seems to work fine for our desktop support guys. Hell, my "Corporate workstation" is a Mac with Parallels running Windows in a VM. The Mac is not a su

          • That's the policy we had at my last job. When it comes to non-technical users, that's a great recipe for spending your time removing malware and reinstalling Windows.

            • Re:Chrome vs IE (Score:5, Interesting)

              by DrgnDancer ( 137700 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @09:20AM (#39584531) Homepage

              There's ways around that too. At Boeing we had an interesting setup. No one had admin access to their own computers, but we had a piece of software on that allowed installation of a wide and varied library of vetted software with sudo like privileges. You opened this tool, and it took you to a library of software: pretty much most of the popular web browsers, a large number of useful free (or Free) tools, and a few licensed tools that we had site licenses for. You clicked on the software you wanted to install, and a privileged installer process started up and installed it. it was pretty cool. You couldn't exactly stay bleeding edge up to date with it (not exactly a bad thing), but you could get a lot of useful tools and software without IT having to worry about infection vectors (obviously they vetted anything that went into the library).

              Lots of software (like Firefox, maybe Chrome?) can be installed in a non-privileged mode anyway. It puts all the files in the user's directory and doesn't write anything to the registry. Hell Firefox has a portable mode that you can just install on a Thumb drive and run without even installing it.

              • by tepples ( 727027 )

                Lots of software (like Firefox, maybe Chrome?) can be installed in a non-privileged mode anyway.

                Which doesn't help in even more secure setups that use AppLocker (formerly Software Restriction Policies) to disallow most user accounts from running any executable not whitelisted by the IT admin.

                • by Krneki ( 1192201 )
                  And this is what I'd implement if I had the time. But I don't, so in the end most of the solutions are implemented when they reach the status "good enough".
              • by Indras ( 515472 )

                Hell Firefox has a portable mode that you can just install on a Thumb drive and run without even installing it.

                So does Chrome [portableapps.com].

        • by Kjella ( 173770 )

          Personally, I wouldn't want the IT department to waste their time on it either. If you permit other browsers, my support routine would be:

          1. Start over from scratch using "Internet Explorer", the one with the blue "e" icon.
          2. Try whatever you were doing again.
          3. If it works, keep doing it from IE. If it doesn't, only then contact us for help.

          We have intranet systems that only work in IE, when I run into them I switch to IE. IE is the only supported browser. If it works in IE, then per definition there is no

        • ... I'm one of those IT control freaks. There's a good reason for it ...

          No there isn't a good reason for it. You have good reasons for not supporting Chrome, but not a good reason for scouring it off.

          The freaks in control of my work machine turned Java off in IE, pushed that little rule to -every- workstation. I have a deadline that requires me to connect to a work-mandated site that uses Java applets. See the disconnect there?

          I suppose you might imagine that you are way too smart to allow your restrictions to hinder job performance or even make tasks impossible. You're no

        • Not to sound to harsh or anything but your users that can't figure how to print are allowed to install arbitrary software?

          Also, if you are resource constrained then I assume you are still primarily on XP. Which caps your IE version at 8. Though an improvement on 7 and a huge leap from 6, still very long in the tooth compared to any modern browser including IE9.

          If of course you have migrated to Vista or 7 then it sounds more like resource misallocation rather than limitations.

        • by higuita ( 129722 )

          ok, its somewhat valid (you should also simply say that you DONT support that browser and leave it to the user), but then why are you choosing a broken browser (IE) over better and safer ones (firefox and chrome)?

          you have for some some MacOSX, so no IE in there... to standardize the browser you would choose again firefox or chrome, or safari

          you are right now choosing for your users, people wanting other browser would be in the same place as now: "you cant" or "its not supported"
          the support and AD features a

        • by Twinbee ( 767046 )
          Why can't you just say "Use another browser if you wish, but then you get no help from me - your're on your own". Then everyone would be happy.
        • >>>I work at one of those places and I'm one of those IT control freaks.

          Probably still using IE6 or 7 too. (Like my company's control freak.) I understand not having time to test firefox or chrome compatibility. I don't understand voluntarily choosing outdated IE6 or 7 with security holes in it.

          • Nah, we're on IE8/9 here and rapidly phasing out the XP/IE8 clients, and we used to support Firefox, Chrome and Opera on the machines but we ran into too many compatibility issues and user issues so we're continuing to phase all of the PCs to only have IE when we upgrade them from XP to Win7. So it's really a case of "we tried it, it worked really badly." Maybe in a few years we'll try something other than IE again, but right now it's the best game in town for our purposes.

        • by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

          AD/GPO control isn't an artificial advantage, it's (IMO) the only advantage IE has.

          In contrast, imagine how much time you waste through malware infections directly caused by IE.

        • I work at one of those places and I'm one of those IT control freaks. There's a good reason for it - we don't have the time or the people to troubleshoot five different browsers. Just because a user prefers Chrome over IE doesn't mean they know how to use it. Even the simple stuff, like displaying a PDF in a browser.

          Lesson Number One for you IT people: Don't confuse
          "support" with "allow." Granted 95% of your users are too damn stupid to learn how to open two tabs, let alone use ctrl-C ctrl-V, so tell the

      • What people don't realize what is an easy no, risk solution for your home PC, is a complicated high risk solution for the enterprise, the bigger the organization, the tougher the job.

        1. You have those non-IT supported apps that IT now has to support. Apps installed before IT had enough corporate strength to push down an edict. Each departments would have installed their own software with little if any consideration on if it will be scale or cross compatibility. Approved and purchased and installed without
    • Re:Chrome vs IE (Score:5, Interesting)

      by tomhath ( 637240 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @07:53AM (#39583495)
      It's obvious this is home versus work usage. What's interesting is the Firefox doesn't show the same peaks and valleys as Chrome, IE and Safari. Maybe it's already used more in corporate computers? That's certainly the case where I work.
      • by tibit ( 1762298 )

        I push Firefox ESR on all desktops at work, using lovely Ninite, but I've been having a debate with myself as to switching to Chrome. The latter has a built-in PDF viewer that seems to be more responsive on lower-end machines (P4, Atom) than Acrobat viewer.

      • by JoeRobe ( 207552 )

        I found that interesting as well. Even safari has small bumps up on the weekend. I do know that Firefox has become a lot more accepted in work environments probably because it's been around so long that IT trusts it by now. I wonder if the fact that Chrome usage increases more on Sundays is because enough people are still working on Saturdays that IE wins.

      • Firefox does have a stronger corporate support. Mostly because it is usually the default browser for Linux Systems (Software developers and Systems Admins often have Linux workstations) and the users will use similar stuff at home. Also Firefox was one of early popular replacements for IE when IE6 started to get much too old. So a lot of grandma's and companies when plagued with IE6 problems went to Firefox.

        Chrome is a new player in the game. It takes companies a long time to change.
      • My company is the exact opposite. Firefox is not allowed (although I know quite a few folks with the portable version), but Chrome has just become available if requested. Apparently it's something to do with the automatic updates in Firefox vs being able to specifically push updates in Chrome - I don't know exactly since I'm not IT.
    • by goldcd ( 587052 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @08:27AM (#39583867) Homepage
      I know why I originally switched from FF/IE (work) - Chrome was noticeably faster. Not in some "I've checked the benchmarks" kind of way, in the "I've installed it and this is clearly faster and more pleasurable to use."
      After the initial speed thing, it was the UI that's kept me. Dragging tabs to windows, pinning tabs, scrolling tabs, bookmark sync, add-on/app sync, background update etc etc. Also simply installing Chrome on a new machine, simply giving it my google login and the Chrome that appears on the new desktop immediately resembling the version on my home machine.
      Reading through the above, it's probably the background update that was the killer bit. I genuinely have no idea what version of Chrome I'm currently running. I installed it years ago and it's just been there ever since. My entirely subjective opinion is that the features and improvements silently appear before I ever even realized I need them - so I remain 'happy' and 'content' (and would have to see some utterly novel, ground-breaking feature advertised on another browser to even bother to download it)
      By auto-update I don't mean like thunderbird or itunes, where an attempt to launch it suddenly triggers update popups, delays and release notes. I mean I don't even know it's happened. If this approach could just be extended to OS, drivers as well as apps, I'd be happy as Larry.
    • by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

      Flamebait? Redmond has lots of mod points, it seems. However, I certainly wouldn't have modded you up and might have modded you "overrated" because you're missing it completely.

      IE is king of the browsers in the enterprise workplace for many reasons (none of which have to do with quality or useability). I'd say this story is from the "well DUH" dept. Nearly everybody uses IE at work, relatively few do at home.

      Most workplaces have policies specifially forbidding anyone but IT from installing anything on work

    • Chrome also automatically installed itself on my computer when I upgraded my antivirus. I was simply amazed that an antivirus program had the audacity to install a third party application, make it the default browser, and then automatically launch it. And you thought useless browser bars were annoying when they installed themselves.

      Is Google pushing this mafia style of marketing or was it done without their knowledge? I think Google knows because I've seen other complaints of the same thing happening via

  • Asa Dotzler will design a Firefox for five billion users!

  • Or (Score:5, Informative)

    by Rik Sweeney ( 471717 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @07:51AM (#39583471) Homepage

    Evidently, end-users prefer Chrome at home, which might be helping the browser get a foothold at work.

    Or, my employer won't let me install any software on my work machine so I'm stuck with IE(6).

    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      The thing is that no browser works with all applications, or satisfies all people, so one has to decision. In my experience, firefox has the long history of personal which means it is more or less universally supported and tends to work, but is considered slow and a memory hog. IE has an equal legacy in business, so does work in that environment. There are many legacy back ends that depend on IE as the front end, so if supporting one browser IE is good enough. Chrome works well but does not work everywh
    • Or, my employer won't let me install any software on my work machine so I'm stuck with IE(6).

      You mean that browser that MS itself rates as a critical security vulnerability and highly recommends upgrading (and even pushes a new version out as a critical update)? I fully understand the support for already in place legacy systems, but that browser had better not be on workstation with unfettered Internet access.

      If you're browsing the web with that bad boy, your IT needs to take a good, hard look at its policies, or at least rethink their risk assessment.

  • by ciderbrew ( 1860166 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @07:56AM (#39583527)
    They could do this with LotusNotes too. Lots of people use shite that's not fit for purpose at work.
  • The only reason IE is so popular at work is because of Active X Scripts. Many of the work related websites require it, especially financial sites, and schools. Until other browsers can fully support ActiveX, IE will always dominate. Microsoft's way of monopolizing the browsers.
    • by steveb3210 ( 962811 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @09:05AM (#39584313)
      You're out of touch with reality - ActiveX is a dead technology and people will migrate away from it, not the other way around.
      • by na1led ( 1030470 )
        I wish ActiveX was dead, but sadly it is not, at least not yet. There are too many sites and applications that use it, making it impossible to switch browsers for this reason.
        • I wish ActiveX was dead, but sadly it is not, at least not yet. There are too many sites and applications that use it, making it impossible to switch browsers for this reason.

          Its not a matter of if, its a matter of when they rewrite those apps to run on modern web standards...

          I seriously hope CIOs don't think that 5, 7 years from now - they can keep their entire company on IE6 just because of some ancient internal infrastructure...

  • by efudddd ( 312615 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @08:21AM (#39583773)
    The Infoworld article is pretty funny, and confirms what many have long assumed. However, while I'm just as anxious as anyone else to see earlier iterations of IE get their deserved due, a wider breakout shows something else: http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser_version-ww-daily-20120101-20120402 [statcounter.com]

    In linked three-month period by browser version, notice that IE9 also has the same corresponding spikes (albeit smaller) on weekends. Possibly that reflects no active choice on part of home users who just use the default install (while corporate continues to play catch-up). But it might also represent a segment that simply continues to prefer IE (the "web-compliant" kind).
  • by Giorgio Maone ( 913745 ) on Thursday April 05, 2012 @08:23AM (#39583813) Homepage

    Does StatCounter take in account Chrome's page views inflation [google.com] caused by its Instant Pages [blogspot.it] prerendering feature?

    I'd be surprised, since even Google Analytics itself is affected...

    Anyway, please be careful before announcing "Chrome usage surpassed this or that" :P

  • I am not aware of a SINGLE application, used in business, that is "Chrome Only".

    However, for years at previous jobs (where linux desktops where uncommon) I have struggled with needing to maintain a windows machine for NO OTHER PURPOSE than to run outlook for mail, and ie for a few apps that will not work with anything else.

    They are all over the place. Of course, not everyone can choose, many are locked in at work, and those who are locked in tend to be locked in to IE, for the same reason... a few apps. Tho

  • Just smuggle a portable version of the browser and putty on your windows machine and you can do whatever you want.

    Troll disclaimer

    Yes, some PC are properly locked, but 90%* can be hacked.

    *The number is pure speculation.

  • Monday to Friday I am at the office, where we are cheap and lazy and only have IE installed on old XP machines. I *WOULD* be browsing on Chrome (like I do when at home), if it was an option. I am sure this is the case around the world.
  • I'm sure this has been mentioned already, but IE usage in the work place is almost compulsory.

    Network admins know IE, they think supporting other browsers will add to their work load so they don't support other browsers.

    Additionally, many companies have, bought, make/maintain legacy webapps that were hardcoded to non-standard web tech in IE so to get work done people use IE at work.

  • Google commercial to the strains of 'Everybody's Working for the Weekend'.

1 1 was a race-horse, 2 2 was 1 2. When 1 1 1 1 race, 2 2 1 1 2.

Working...