The response on the first day’s debut of Microsoft’s new Internet Explorer (IE) has been described as ‘underwhelming’ in terms of global usage, an internet statistics firm has claimed.
According to StatCounter’s Global Stats, global usage of IE8 in the first day of launch (March 19) was 1.39pc.
This is just above IE’s previous day’s market penetration of 1.33pc.
The new browser has been in public beta testing for about a year. By 20 March at 17:00 GMT, IE8’s market share had risen to 1.56pc.
“I suppose the kindest description of user reaction to IE 8’s first public outing would be ‘underwhelming’,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO and founder of StatCounter.
He contrasted the performance to the launch of Firefox 3 last June. “Firefox 3 managed to convert users from its previous browser.
“Usage of Firefox 3 more than doubled from 7.8pc at beta testing to 18.9pc over a three-day period following the launch (16-18 June).”
StatCounter is one of the largest website traffic monitoring companies in the world, with over two million members globally. Over 40pc of members are located in the US, with 25pc in Europe. Its analysis is based on four billion page loads per month.
By John Kennedy
Pictured: Accelerators in IE8 let you map directions, translate words and email your friends in a few mouse clicks
