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Internet Explorer Fightback: Q&A With IE Lead of Microsoft Asia Jonathan Wong

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Microsoft's Internet Explorer, once unassailable atop the browser market, has been battered by competition, lackluster performance, and nagging compatibility issues with web standards. When IE4 was released in September 1997, the browser has roughly 30% market share. By the time the computer giant released IE5 in March 1999, its market share has stretched to 60% and by early 2000s, it has sailed past the 70% mark.

IE6 was released in August 2001 and it catapulted Microsoft's dominance in browser market. By 2003, IE captured 95% market share and was crowned the undisputed Browser King. Its nemesis, Netscape, ceased development in 2003.

Enter the Firefox. The Mozilla Firefox rose from the ashes of Netscape in 2004. It also marked the beginning of IE's gradual decline from its summit. The introduction of Google Chrome in 2008 further added competitive pressure on IE. Within 8 years or so, IE's market has declined from 95% to around 50%. Although IE is still the most widely used web browser on this planet, its decline and the surging growth of its competitors are grabbing the headlines.

In March 2011, Microsoft released the much anticipated IE9 and the latest iteration of IE received mostly positive reviews. It was lauded for its speed, another proclaimed it "the most modern browser there is" and a lab study said IE9 is best to beat malware.

Now, IE seems to be on an upswing. Since January 2012, its market share has been increasing, according to Net Market Share. Is this the beginning of Microsoft's fightback in the browser market it once dominated?

Jonathan Wong, Internet Explorer Lead of Microsoft Asia, foresees the upward trend to continue as more PC users upgrading from older versions of IE to the spanking new IE9, coupled with "wow" features like site-pinning and SmartScreen filtering technology. More of his thoughts on the current IE's fightback, particularly from Asian perpectives, in the following short Q&A:

What are your thoughts on the recent fightback by the IE browser in the Asian context?

In a nutshell, I believe that more and more consumers in Asia are getting the opportunity to try out IE9, and are liking it.

The challenge in many Asian markets (especially in SEA) is that many consumers don't bother connecting their PCs with Windows Update and consciously update their web browser. They use the version of IE that is pre-installed on their old PCs, and if they are not happy with the experience, I believe that is what prompts many users to switch to other browsers.

We have started automatic upgrades for IE9 (and IE8) which gives more consumers an opprotunity to try out IE9. And most users, once they have tried IE9, likes it and decides to stick with it as their primary web browser.

What is IE9 doing right?

IE9 is a good, modern browser that is comparable to other browsers in the market today, and is even superior in some areas, like security and hardware accelerated graphics. Our OEM partners also see the value of providing users with a top notch web browsing experience, and have started to ship new Windows 7 PCs with IE9 pre-installed.

Which are the key attractors of the latest IE?

I believe the main feature that users like is the IE9 site-pinning, where users can pin their favorite websites onto their Windows 7 task bar and have the website integrate deeply with Windows through jump list shortcuts, thumbnail shortcuts, and notifications. There really isn't anything like that in other browsers today, or at least not to this level of integration.

For many Asian markets, consumers are increasingly moving online to perform online transactions, and for these security-concious consumers, IE9's industry-leading SmartScreen filter technology will also be a feature that attracts users I think.

Based on third-party studies, IE9's SmartScreen filter technology blocks about 1.5x more socially-engineered malware (phishing attacks, malicious downloads, etc.) than Chrome, and almost 24x more than Firefox!

Looking at Net Market Share's figures for March 2012, major browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera are losing market shares whereas IE is gaining ground. Do you think users of competing browsers are now using IE?

I believe so. However, the reality is that many consumers today (even those that are not necessarily tech-savvy like you and me) use more than one browser. So browser share is no longer just about how many users use one browser over another, but more so about how much time one spends in one browser over another.

Microsoft promises web users A More Beautiful Web with IE9. One thing for sure, its IE ad is beautiful (see below). So, how's your experience with the latest IE browser?