In my last WinExtra post I put forward some ideas for Microsoft in order to regain ground in the browser wars. I am adamant, that in order to regain ground, Microsoft not only has to revamp Internet Explorer on the desktop, but also needs to turn out a killer mobile browser and enable a synchronous experience across all platforms.
Steven sees many of Microsofts IE woes resulting from them being in a perpetual state of catch up and is among the legions who would like to see IE shuffled off the mortal coil of computing.
One of IEs (and Microsofts) biggest hindrances in terms of innovation is their need to ensure that changes to IE won’t break the legacy software and web applications of slow to upgrade corporations. They just can’t cut off the people holding the strings to one of their main purses.
The other problem that haunts Microsoft is a mindset of develop once use everywhere. By that I mean, they develop software and try to port it or use it on all platforms. Take “Menlo” as an example.
Menlo is a rumored project to replace Windows CE (Windows Embedded Compact) with Windows NT inside of mobile devices. Yes, this would allow them to promote a write once, run everywhere environment but I fear that Microsoft still doesn’t quite understand that just like a tank is not a suitable vehicle for driving around town, software developed for the desktop should not always be ported to the mobile environment.
To continue the analogy, software that is developed with the corporate environment in mind should not necessarily be ported, or modified for the home user.
Sometimes you should just release a separate product, designed with the home user in mind specifically and that brings us back to Internet Explorer.
The corporate world has different needs for IE and the support of legacy technologies, but home users neither need nor want that support.
It’s time for Microsoft to cut the umbilical cord that is choking the throat of the home user market and release us from the bonds of IE. It’s time to win back market share and the key to it is to release a completely new browser just for home users.
What I’m talking about here is Microsoft releasing their own competitor to Googles Chrome. A fast, light weight browser, with a rapid development cycle that is hogging the news cycle for all the right reasons.
Leave, or rename IE (IE Corporate) to the corporate users. It will make the development cycle easier not to have to keep it up to date with all the features home users require and reduce the surface area for attacks.
Give home users what we want, a fast, up to date, feature rich browser that doesn’t have a geological update cycle.
It might appear better to have one code base for each user base, but you are loosing market share because of it.
Related posts:
- What Does Microsoft Need To Do To Regain Ground In The Browser Wars?
- Stop using IE6? How about just killing it
- [Updated] Preview of the browser choice screen in Windows 7 for Europe
- Microsoft Security Essentials: One more thing Microsoft gets right.
- Turn Internet Explorer into Google’s Chrome browser
