Internet Explorer 8 RC1 Response 'Underwhelming'

According to reports emerging this weekend, users have been slow to adopt Microsoft's new Internet Explorer (IE) 8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1), rumored to be the company's last version of the iconic web browser.

Internet Explorer 8 RC1 was released late last week, and met with general satisfaction from security and usability experts. Although the new IE has the ability to blacklist known malware web sites and prevent phishing scams, it's been demonstrated already that it can be hacked.

Reaction to IE8 "Underwhelming"

Despite all the hacking, speed, and usability tests buzzing about this latest Microsoft offering, it seems most users just aren't all that enthused. As of Friday afternoon, only 1.56% of all global Internet users were surfing with IE8. According to statistical tracker StatCounter Global Stats, that number was up only slightly from Thursday's 1.39%.

StatCounter executive Aodhan Cullen says those numbers show people just don't care that much about the eighth release of a sometimes highly-criticized browser. "I suppose the kindest description of user reaction to IE 8's first public outing would be 'underwhelming,'" Cullen said. (Source: crn.com)

So, how can we put these tiny numbers into perspective? Compare them with Firefox, of course. When Mozilla's third browser offering launched last summer, it accounted for about 7.8% of all web usage during its beta testing alone. After just a few days in widespread official release, Firefox 3 had doubled its numbers to an impressive 18.9%.

What's the problem?

Some speculate that issues with IE8 have been well publicized and are scaring potential users away. Some reports claim that the browser can cause system crashes, while others find it to have difficulty displaying certain sites.

Thankfully, Microsoft is taking the complaints seriously. MS has encouraged users to post any bugs encountered through usage, stating that "The Internet Explorer 8 Feedback website on Microsoft Connect will remain open and we will not delete any of your previously submitted bugs. In the next couple of months, we will introduce a new type of feedback form designed specifically to handle improvements for the next version of Internet Explorer." (Source: arstechnica.com)