look back to how instant messenger systems are evolving… you either have to make a choice as to which one you use (ie your friends already use it), run multiple clients, or hope that someone works on some software bridge.

at the moment, it is not in the software manufacturers’ interest to combine systems? software lock-in (user numbers) is what counts.

Are we seeing the same bunker mentality with social software developments?

{cf. in the UK, early mobile phone users only had the ability to send SMS txt messages to people on the SAME network }

Browser Hits Percent
Internet Explorer 863278 86.26%
Googles’ Firefox 65951 6.59%
Safari 45116 4.51%
Mozilla 14404 1.44%
Netscape 12038 1.20%

Total 1000787 100.00%

The race isn’t even close. It’s all about supply and demand. It’s an IE world as far as browsing is concerned, in much the same way that it’s a Google world as far as search goes.

I’m in the position where I see a ton of website stats, and I would like to point out that you rarely hear “IE-Only” complaints from website creators, managers, owners, etc.

“IE-Only” complaints are ‘only’ coming from a few anti-Microsoft zealots (or pro Google zealots, depending how you slice it), and the few that are choosing to believe the hype.

A storeowner doesn’t care what car you drive to come his/her store to shop as long as you are coming to shop. You won’t see the owner of Nordstrom’s running out to the parking lot every 30 minutes to check and see how many BMW’s vs. Benz vs. Fill-in-the-blanks are outside. It’s a stupid notion, and so is the whole browser battle discussion from a business owner perspective.

In the same regard, website owners don’t care what browser you use to visit their site, as long as you are showing up.

In fact, my day-to-day observation of website traffic stats rarely includes a peak at “the browser war” stats (even that hyped stat term is a joke). I am more likely to check browser stats after reading silly posts like this one.

I will support the most popular browser, and if it makes sense economically then I will support the next in line. According to the non-inflated stats that I see, it doesn’t make sense to invest the time to support Google’s Firefox, Mozille

People need to wake up and smell the economics. Microsoft is a great company. Does it make the best software, in many ways yes, and in some ways no. Does Apple make better software than MSFT? Yes! They have always made better software (for 30 years and counting). It’s never been about better or worse. It’s about business, economics, utility, supply and demand.

All of you MSFT haters are a bunch of inbred cannibals. Microsoft has had more impact on the power of the world’s economy than any other single company out there over the past 30 years.

MSFT saved us from several other companies vision of what computing should be for the masses.

The Internet would not be what it is today if it were not for Microsoft. Will Google dethrone Microsoft? Did Microsoft dethrone IBM? All three companies are fairing quite well today.

I do think that the Internet, Google, Firefox, et al. are good for Microsoft. They constantly help to wake the company up and force them to re-align themselves with reality instead of the “Redmond is the center of the Universe” philosophy that tends to take over every 10 years at Microsoft.

I like Google and I like Microsoft. I just don’t see why people get so RELIGIOUS about this crap. It’s just software, stocks and money. This stupid debate is worse than Middle-eastern conflict. I choose both Google and Microsoft. It’s a win-win for me (but obviously not for the media). I could go on… but I will cease.

Rex

P.S. Microsoft spawned the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation which Warren Buffet determined is the best to give his $44 Billion to. Bill’s goal is only to try to do what no other person or group has done in recent times.

{Invest in Eyegloo}

Tried Aimpages in IE, Netscape firefox on both my PC and my daughters MAc.. no problems??

We want to support as many browsers as possible and are limited only by the speed with which our small team can work around browser bugs and feature differences in DOM support.