Launching a little over two weeks ago, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 has already secured 3.6% usage share on Windows 7 over the course of March, an adoption rate that is five times higher than that of its predecessor Internet Explorer 8.
Posting to theWindows Team Blog, Ryan Gavin Senior Director, Internet Explorer notes that 90% of the downloads the company registered were from third-party browsers or older versions of the browsing software, with the remaining 10% upgrading from the Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate or Beta.
Perhaps the most interesting statistic is that over a quarter of those downloads originated from either Chrome or Firefox, although it does not take into consideration whether the software was installed and launched.
Microsoft hasn’t begun a major push for its latest browser, with the date for the massive rollout of the new software to computers via Windows Update beingpushed backseveral months to late June. Originally, the company promised to push out IE9 on the21st of March, but that date slipped by with Microsoft only days later acknowledging that thegiven day was wrong.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Attempting to coax Internet Explorer users on older operating systems, particularly those using IE6, Microsoft is still championing itsie6countdown.comwebsite, attracting considerable interest in the process. Microsoft has recorded 1.1 million unique visitors and almost 2 million pageviews, partnering with over 400 companies and websites to help users make the switch.
It seems to be paying off, slowly – Net Applications tracked the usage share of the old browser, showing that it dropping another 0.43 points to 11.58% worldwide across all operating systems.
Story byMatt Brian
Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him on Twitter, subscribe to his updates on Facebook and catch up with him(show all)Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him onTwitter, subscribe to his updates onFacebookand catch up with him onGoogle+.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
