back to article Take the shame: Microsofties ADMIT to playing Internet Explorer name-change game

Internet Explorer could be getting a new name as Microsoft tries to escape the browser’s troubled past. One of Redmond’s IE engineers copped to the news during an AMA on Reddit late last week. Asked whether Microsoft had ever considered rebranding IE, browser engineer Jonathan Sampson 'fessed up that, after nearly 20 years, …

  1. John Savard

    Condition

    It's all right with me if Microsoft brings out another browser with a new name.

    Just start from a whole new code base, and omit the ActiveX support. Then calling it by a different name can legitimately be seen as not being an attempt to hoodwink the consumer.

    1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: Condition

      Reminds me of the hitchhiker's guide episode:

      Arthur Dent: "You mean you have a solution"

      Ford Prefect: "No, I just knocked the bottle of wine over. But I do have a new name for our problem!!"

      Quite a common marketing ploy of course. Re-brand your product once you have realised the brand name has become a liability rather than an asset.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Condition

      ActiveX support in the browser can easily be classified as one of the biggest Microsoft mistakes of all time, even worse than TIFKAM.

      Allowing any kind of code execution, (even installation of binaries!!!) inside something like a browser is bad enough from a security standpoint. Convenient it may be, but increases the attack surface by an order of magnitude. We have had enough JavaScript and Java vulnerabilities to prove that.

      Allowing native, binary code execution inside the browser is the next level in hell and plain horrible. Exhibit A: the "fixes" for that mistake developed over time ("trust zones", "killbits" and who knows what else) are nasty kludges that get in the way of what a browser can be used to.

      Microsoft should have dropped ActiveX support in IE5, or perhaps in the latest IE4 service pack. Instead they choose to keep it for compatibility sake. Had the few apps developed at the time been forced to move away from using ActiveX controls inside the browser at that time they'd saved an incredible of man hours in developing and patching.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Condition

      "and omit the ActiveX support."

      That's rarely an issue these days. Over 90% of desktop / laptop exploits in the last year involved Java....

      1. Steve Knox

        Re: Condition

        "and omit the ActiveX support."

        That's rarely an issue these days. Over 90% of desktop / laptop exploits in the last year involved Java....

        ...which in IE is implemented as an ActiveX control...

        1. Bob Vistakin
          Facepalm

          Just extend the name

          IIIIIEEEEE!

          The sound a dying company chucking itself off a cliff makes.

          1. Fungus Bob

            Re: Just extend the name

            "The sound a dying company chucking itself off a cliff makes."

            Nope, they all just go "SPLAT".

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Condition

          "...which in IE is implemented as an ActiveX control..."

          No, it isn't. Only the JRE launcher is an Active-X control. And there have been no recent holes in that.

          Hence why the vast majority of Java JRE holes are cross browser and usually cross platform .

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Condition

        "90% of exploits involve Java"

        ... which as you know (and already commented) it is implemented as an ActiveX control?

        And Java is now the target of exploits only because 90% of exploits first involved Active X, then 90% of exploits involved JavaScript, then 90% of exploits involved Adobe Acrobat. Now 90% of exploits involve Java because all the other, easier, avenues have already been exploited. From time to time a ghost from the past resurfaces as a "using memory after freed" JavaScript exploit or exotic combination of content in JPG/PDF content that triggers some buffer overrun.

        Exploits are developed according to its difficulty and popularity of the software being exploited. ActiveX was by far the easier to exploit and universally available thanks to the market dominance of IE. And it only became sort of secure by making it close to unusable except in corporate environments with dedicated support staff who can afford to spend the time in making the right incantations in IE configuration.

      3. Morrie Wyatt
        FAIL

        Re: Condition

        Rarely an issue?

        Try Honeywell's security camera recorder web interface. It requires Java AND ActiveX.

        The worst of both worlds, it requires IE, and makes no guarantees about running on any recent version of that.

        Internet Explorer rename?

        A sows ear by any other name will still never be a silk purse, and will still smell just as bad.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Condition

      Why not call it "Sellafield" ?

    5. P. Lee

      Re: Condition

      MS' problem is the Standards. The more compliant to Standards a browser is, the more you are compelled to compete on features the user wants or else just become part of the wallpaper. With Standards, the better you are, the less distinctive you are and the less brand awareness you have.

      Of course, with so much media being offered over the web, MS finds that non-paying, end-user customers are less lucrative than its paying DRM-requiring or advert-requiring customers.

      Thinking about my own preferences, on Windows, I install FF specifically for noscript and ad-block. Cross-platform GUI similarities also make it and Chrom(e/ium) easy to use. I install Chrome for its good IE compatability/Windows integration for corporate sites and for research, its adobe compatibility and simplicity. IE hits me with yahoo's home page. Easy to turn off, but I hate it and it just turns me off the whole experience so I just avoid it. It's probably a good browser but I just don't use it. Indeed, calling it Internet Explorer makes me thing its a bolt-on to (file) Explorer, like Konquorer is/was. It get nervous using what was supposed to be a local tool to access internet stuff. I like separate between the OS and the application.

    6. mrweekender

      Re: Condition

      They could just call it "Wank" - because we all know it will be so just cut to the fucking chase Microsoft.

      1. Timmy Cratchit
        Windows

        Re: Condition

        I've always found "Idiot Exploiter" to be profoundly pithy, succinct and almost supernaturally accurate. Comes with the huge advantage of retaining the existing "IE" abbreviation too. Perfect!.. so they won't choose that then.

        No doubt $MSFT will want to *appear* high-brow and businesslike. So, what about "Iliua Equi"?

  2. Jad

    New browser names:

    In no particular order (names I've heard it called):

    1) "Internet thingy"

    2) "the world icon that opens the internet"

    3) "Windows Internet"

    4) "internet"

    5) "the internet"

    6) "facebook"

    7) "twitter"

    8) "google"

    9) "search"

    ...

    1. Stuart 22

      Re: New browser names:

      There is an excellent browser called BROWSER on Android. Maybe they could buy that for a little less than Nokia. And have perpetual rights to the name?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: New browser names:

        The could call it Windroid?

        Much like Lindows :)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: New browser names:

        Please not the Bing Browser, I'm begging you.

        Bing is the lamest name in the history of IT, even apple couldn't make it cool.

        1. P. Lee

          Re: New browser names:

          > Bing is the lamest name in the history of IT

          Also, in "Friends."

        2. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge
          Devil

          Re: New browser names:

          "Please not the Bing Browser, I'm begging you."

          MS Bob (Browser of Bing)

        3. Dr Scrum Master
          Coat

          Re: New browser names:

          > Please not the Bing Browser, I'm begging you.

          > Bing is the lamest name in the history of IT, even apple couldn't make it cool.

          They've had Bob, now Bing, so next up is Dorothy.

    2. AMBxx Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: New browser names:

      The only people who know what it's called don't use it. Doesn't really matter what they call it.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Bernardo Sviso

        Re: New browser names:

        Not bad -- but Google already has dibs on that one.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: New browser names:

      Thinking of ease of use for phone support*:

      "The Big E"

      *otherwise known as any call involving a relative not using a mac.

      1. Michael Thibault

        Re: New browser names:

        "bloo-ey"?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: New browser names:

        Big E is taken. It is the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, a.k.a. the Quarter-Mile-Island.

        Well, it could work since you probably can't avoid it, and it's been dropping cluster-bombs (and all other sorts of bombs, for that matter) on your premises for the last decade. And it employs 5000 - odd people.

        Except people on the real big E are extremely competent and can also provide disaster relief at catastrophy-stricken places if need be, which MS can't.

        I will leave the backronym exercises to our expert El Reg readers, but we could call this new browser by C.R.A.P. or B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T. or B.A.R.F.

    5. Horridbloke

      Re: New browser names:

      10) "the thing"

      (True story.)

      1. TheOtherHobbes

        Re: New browser names:

        11. Internet Exploiter

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: New browser names

      How's about 'Max Power'? It worked for Homer.....

    7. Steve Evans

      Re: New browser names:

      Maybe they should just adopt the name many of us have called it for years...

      Exploder.

    8. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

      Re: New browser names:

      10) "Firefox installer".

    9. TheMole

      Re: New browser names:

      Might I add :

      10) "the thing you use to download a proper web browser onto a new Windows pc"

    10. revdjenk

      Since...

      ...I use Linux, I still won't / can't run whatever they call it!

    11. Fungus Bob
      Windows

      Re: New browser names:

      Bing Thing

  3. Rich 2 Silver badge

    What SHOULD Microsoft call its browser?

    Shite?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What SHOULD Microsoft call its browser?

      "Chrome/Firefox Downloader"

    2. sorry, what?
      Coat

      Re: What SHOULD Microsoft call its browser?

      Or "Infernal Excrement" so they can keep the acronym going?

    3. FuzzyTheBear

      Re: What SHOULD Microsoft call its browser?

      Titanic :)

    4. FlatSpot

      Re: What SHOULD Microsoft call its browser?

      Internet Bloater

    5. PleebSmash

      Re: What SHOULD Microsoft call its browser?

      Internet Extruder

      Trident Blink

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

    6. elDog

      Re: What SHOULD Microsoft call its browser?

      Sort of goes along with IANIE (I am not IE) which is derived from I Ain't No Lawyer (IANAL).

  4. ratfox
    Angel

    maybe they should call it…

    Off.

    1. VinceH

      Re: maybe they should call it…

      Only if they first change the company name to "Piss", "Sod" or "Fuck".

  5. Herer

    big blue E

    Big blue E

    BlueeeeeeY

    KABLOOOOOOOEEEEEEY

    Or, just 'bleugh'.

    1. Pookietoo

      Re: big blue E

      "Big Blue" is already taken.

  6. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Coat

    I'd call it "Spinal Tap"

    because it goes all the way up to 11

    1. BlueGreen

      Re: I'd call it "Spinal Tap"

      Aren't spinal taps very, very painful and unpleasant?

      1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

        Re: I'd call it "Spinal Tap"

        "Aren't spinal taps very, very painful and unpleasant?"

        And you point is?

        1. BlueGreen

          Re: I'd call it "Spinal Tap"

          > And you point is?

          I thought you were playing along but I'm not so sure now. Work it out.

          (and /pace/ @thomas k.)

        2. Hi Wreck

          Re: I'd call it "Spinal Tap"

          Lost my coffee. +11

        3. Fungus Bob

          Re: I'd call it "Spinal Tap"

          "And you point is?"

          Painful and unpleasant....

      2. thomas k.

        Re: I'd call it "Spinal Tap"

        Not it they're done right.

  7. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Happy

    I just renamed it "Internet Exploder" on our desktop. It took ages for anybody to notice. Once they did notice, they did not know how and/or didn't bother to change it back

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Someone Else Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: tee hee.

        and don't forget Outaluck for Outlook :)

        I like "LookOut" better...

        1. Alan Edwards

          Re: tee hee.

          > and don't forget Outaluck for Outlook :)

          That was always Outhouse and Outhouse Distress to me.

      2. akeane

        Re: tee hee.

        or Microsoft lookOut! ;-)

        (Edit) Oh, beaten to it :-(

      3. asphytxtc

        Re: tee hee.

        That harps me back to the joyous days of "Lookout Express" ^.^

    2. Jad
      Happy

      RE: Internet Exploder

      In the days long ago when we used to use "Pegasus Mail" almost all of the icons in our company were labelled "Horsey" ...

      I forgot about this for a long time, when one day I was helping someone on a support call and I asked them what email system they were using (we were transitioning to Thunderbird at the time) ... there was a pause at the other end of the line and then a very sheepish "Horsey" was announced ... I have to say that that really made my day :)

      1. WraithCadmus
        Trollface

        Re: RE: Internet Exploder

        So you went from "Horsey" to "Birdy"?

    3. dogged

      Highly skilled techies in your office, then?

      On topic, it must have a development name just as the javascript engine is called "Trident".

      Personally, I'm wondering how long it'll last anyway, given the way things seem to be going. I mean, think about it - if Cortana works on Win9 desktops the same way it works on WP then most "applications" end up being an on-demand extension of the assistant. If you wanted to look something up, it'd be more likely to open a wikipedia app for you than en.wikipedia.org in IE. List of search items? They might be _powered_ by Bing but they'll show up in a Cortana return area (or on Windows, presumably sidebar).

      It'll probably start eating up functionality that used to be confined to the Start menu, such as last 6 documents/whatever you worked on and THAT in turn means you no longer care about the application that opens your document, just about your document.

      I guess what I'm getting at is that for a lot of people, the days of "Computer, do {instruction}" are almost upon us (and typing it in busy offices counts). So much so that it seems to me that individual applications are going to fade into the background. Especially browsers.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about

    Internet Exploder

    1. hplasm
      Happy

      Re: How about

      AIEEEEEEEEE!

      Just like using it.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    WindBlows.

    or

    Windscale

  10. dotdavid

    How about the more accurate "Web Explorer"? Although personally I prefer the "Chrome/Firefox Downloader" mentioned above.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Dingbat Fuck'uper".

  12. DPWDC
    Coat

    Bing Orgasm

    Or, BingO for short

    1. Roger Greenwood

      Re: Bing Orgasm

      Bingo - I think you may have something there.

    2. tfewster

      Re: Bing Orgasm

      Bing Engine ?

      (BingE)

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Netmarketshare?

    "Today, IE has fallen to 58 per cent, according to Netmarketshare’s monthly stats, with Google’s Chrome second biggest of the browsers on 20 per cent."

    58% IE?

    WTF? Why are you getting the stats from a company bankrolled by Microsoft who don't specify how they do their 'secret weighting" to get their stats?

    Nearly every other independent stat counter reverse this and have IE at about 20%.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Netmarketshare?

      "Nearly every other independent stat counter reverse this and have IE at about 20%"

      Because that includes platforms that Microsoft don't compete in like smart TVs, fridges, etc. 58% is the desktop / laptop IE market share.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Netmarketshare?

        No, based on Desktop market share IE is way behind. Look at the wikipedia link (netmarketshare=netapplications btw)

        1. DPWDC

          Re: Netmarketshare?

          Not that I agree or disagree with the either side of the market share measurement argument... But did you really just say:

          "LOOK AT THE WIKIPEDIA LINK"?!

          Not 1st place I'd be using as a citation to prove an argument.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Netmarketshare?

            "Not 1st place I'd be using as a citation to prove an argument."

            Seriously, go back to 2010, 'even' the Register uses Wikipedia links now. But luckily it also has links to the actual data - like most technical stats articles.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Netmarketshare?

            >> Not 1st place I'd be using as a citation to prove an argument.

            Most Wikipedia articles do have citations. The articles just do the job of summarising/explaining them.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Netmarketshare?

          Unless we're looking at a different link, it says under "Usage share of desktop browsers" for IE 58,3% in the "Netapplications" row.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Netmarketshare?

            ""Usage share of desktop browsers" for IE 58,3% in the "Netapplications" row."

            Oh boy, reading comprehension failure? Yes it does, that is the point netmarketshare=netapplications. Notice how their stat differs from other stat counter. Notice how it will differ from every other browser neutral web site you look at the stats for?

            The point was that netmarketshare/netapplications is Microsoft funded and uses a secret weighting to make the results skew to showing in IE's favour. No other stat counter does - all the others are neutral and just record the non-bots that hit.

            When quoting browser stats ignore netmarketshare/netapplications and choose one of the independent counters (or better still use your own web stats if the query is for developing for your own site).

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Netmarketshare?

              Where is the reading comprehension failure? The Wikipedia page says so and it is quoted correctly. So no reading failure.

              But if what you want is to challenge the validity of the data coming from Netapplications, do so explaining, like what you've done in your reply. And if possible, after that explanation, you should provide some evidence of the skew performed by Netapplications.

              I'd say it is an explanation failure on your part. My own web stats, by the way, match netapplications more than the other sources. It could be very well due to the kind of site, or other reasons. But unless evidence is provided of the results being weighted in favor of IE, I don't have any reasons to challenge Netapplications any more than the other sources.

              Not saying that they are more accurate or better, just that you need to provide more evidence.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Netmarketshare?

        Even if you look at desktop figures only (where Microsoft is strongest) on gs.statcounter.com (with a sample size 75x greater than netmarketshare) the best result for IE is still only 23%.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Netmarketshare?

        Because that includes platforms that Microsoft don't compete

        No. There is a section called "share of desktop browsers". Also, the amount of traffic smart tvs and similar devices is insignificant, and no where near enough to skew NetApplications so severely.

        The traffic to my sites roughly match that of the other independent counters.

        It's well known that netapps have a bias, and there stats are only useful for "point scoring" by IE fanboys on forums.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Netmarketshare?

      I think the 58% figure refers to desktop and laptop share. The share goes down to 20% or even less if you account for all the iOS and Android devices out there.

      Personally using Firefox since I don't remember when, only using IE for internal company sites because some genius decided that Silverlight was the way to go to show content. Flash lock in by another name, I suppose.

      1. James Micallef Silver badge

        Re: Netmarketshare?

        Given that the newset IE is meant to be the same across both desktop and mobile I think it's fair to measure it's share as a percentage of all platforms, not just desktop

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Netmarketshare?

          It makes no difference how much you squint your eyes and adjust the target platform to whatever attempts to make IE look stronger.

          Microsoft themselves know the facts, no matter how the fanboys wish to misread/skew them.

          They know IE's popularity is dismal, otherwise they wouldn't be risking all of that "good reputation" over the years, by re-branding.

  14. 4ecks

    BOLR

    Browser of Last Resort - I only use it for a couple of sites that still don't play nicely with FF or Chrome.

  15. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
    Paris Hilton

    Name

    Browser

    Sorry I am lazy :(

    1. Alister

      Re: Name

      Name

      Browser

      Sorry I am lazy :(

      I'm sorry, but that's too generic, you must be more specific.

      Web Browser

      There, that's much better.

      1. Someone Else Silver badge

        Re: Name

        You can be even lazier and call it "Bowser"

        1. Michael Habel

          Re: Name

          You can be even lazier and call it "Bowser"

          Your ActiveX-ploit in in another Castle...

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Too little, too late

    Sad thing is, the window of opportunity for IE has closed for me a long time ago. I was a hardcore Windows user, even was called a MS fanboy before that term existed (well, before I first heard it anyway) Stopping to use IE and starting to use Firefox under Windows was a first symptom of what ended up happening, which was that I moved to Linux

    It could be very well that IE 11 is in fact an excellent piece of software, but unless they release a Linux version, I'm not going to bother to try it. And that can't happen not because Microsoft can't do it, after all Apple, Google and Mozilla are perfectly capable of releasing their browsers on multiple platforms. It is only Microsoft who is disadvantaging itself by not releasing IE on other platforms.

    1. AJ MacLeod

      Re: Too little, too late

      "It is only Microsoft who is disadvantaging itself by not releasing IE on other platforms."

      They did once upon a time; many years ago I tested IE on Solaris... didn't see any reason to switch from Netscape for everyday use though. Still don't, though Netscape has morphed into Firefox and IE has got less bad in the subsequent decade and a half...

    2. Fading

      You're safe there

      IE 11 has some awful artefact bug and a font renderer that makes all the text blurry (still active bugs as of this morning). So I'd probably steer clear even if there was a Linux version (work machine was recently "upgraded" from IE 10).

      Unfortunately given cognos 10 doesn't play well with modern browsers I do still need to use IE.......

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Too little, too late

      If they made it open-source, BSD licensed... I'd give it a shot.

  17. Yugguy

    Don't mind it

    TBH I dont mind IE. It's no worse than the creeping corporate death of Chrome.

    1. Franco

      Re: Don't mind it

      I'll go with IS for Internet is Slower. Would call it IIS, but there's already a Microsoft Charlie-Foxtrot with that acronym....

      BTW, as much as I don't like IE, Google should get far more flak than it does for their horrific drive-by-download policies (in conjunction with Adobe's evil empire) and the the Chrome uninstaller that breaks everything when you try to get it's greasy paws off your system.

    2. Michael Habel

      Re: Don't mind it

      TBH I dont mind IE. It's no worse than the creeping corporate death of Chrome.

      Or its tied to the hip, fan of groupies over at Mozilla. That seem to be of the belief that Chrome is the Mutz Nutz...

  18. hammarbtyp

    We all know the result..

    We all know if they rename it will be called Bing

    So lets cut the name exploration process and just pass the $500,000 they would of spent on focus groups to me instead

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: We all know the result..

      ...or maybe it should be called Crosby?

    2. John G Imrie

      The search engion is Bing

      The browser should be Bong.

      ¡Bing Bong!

      1. Someone Else Silver badge
        Thumb Down

        @ John G Imrie -- Re: The search engion is Bing

        The browser should be Bong.

        No, No, a thousand times NO! Due to a misspent youth, I associate the word "bong" with pleasant things. The last damn thing I want is to have Micros~1 fuck that up, too!

      2. earl grey
        Trollface

        Re: The search engion is Bing

        Cleanup on my monitor please.

  19. Tom 13

    MS can issue all the press releases they want to about killing the old browsers,

    but given that they still haven't managed to kill off IE6, I'll take them with a grain of salt.

    Google stopped explicit support for IE8 in November of 2012. Our agency outsources to them for mail. Not more than two weeks ago when I was providing an external customer with the credential information for their new account they noticed the unsupported browser notice at the top of their browser window. Yep, his company was still using IE8 because of internally developed applications.

  20. Bladeforce

    It's not just a case of renaming IE..

    ..they need to drop the name Microsoft too

  21. IGnatius T Foobar
    FAIL

    New name for IE

    They should just call it "Chrome/Firefox Downloader" (that's all it's useful for anyway)

    1. Michael Habel

      Re: New name for IE

      They should just call it "Chrome/Firefox Downloader" (that's all it's useful for anyway)

      That, or your... Friendly Pal, for those Second Tuesday of the Month Blues....

  22. captain veg Silver badge

    hoover

    They should call it Microsoft Vacuum Cleaner.

    At least then it probably wouldn't suck.

    -A.

  23. Richard Hewitt

    Azure browser?

  24. plrndl
  25. Eddy Ito

    They should go retro and call it "Technicolor Yawn".

  26. Horridbloke
    Gimp

    Revert

    They could always change it back to "Mosaic".

  27. Richard Conto

    OIDIA

    Online

    Interface

    for

    Direct

    Internet

    Access

    or

    Ooops

    I

    Did

    It

    Again

    Either way, the memes involved show how up-to-date it is.

    1. L0ki

      Re: OIDIA

      Wouldn't that just be a Britany?

  28. Michael Habel

    That's cause its hard to beat free

    First released in 1995, IE famously crushed Marc Andreesen’s Netscape in the browser wars, eventually grabbing 90 per cent market share.

    Really I never was on the 'net early enough to have, had even to bother with Netscape, and with MicroSoft just giving IE3? away for free, on Windows 95. It was a bit of a no brainer, to install that then the $40.00(USD), that Netscape basically wanted for the same thing.

    Now why is it that Linux can't seem to beat MicroSoft at that Game?!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That's cause its hard to beat free

      >> Now why is it that Linux can't seem to beat MicroSoft at that Game?!

      Because consumers aren't faced with the choice of "£100 for Windows, or £0 for Linux."

      Windows is bundled with computers, just like IE is bundled with Windows.

      The fact that other products have even half as much installations as they do, is very telling.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That's cause its hard to beat free

      "Now why is it that Linux can't seem to beat MicroSoft at that Game?!"

      Because Linux is generally even more shite. And worse - you have hundreds of diffferent partly incompatible flavours of more shite..

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's cause its hard to beat free

        Such an intelligent comment, well made, sir!

        Your research must have been thorough and unbiased for you to conclude with such a statement.

  29. stu 4

    Conscious IE users

    I'd like to know the percentage of users out there who use IE as a conscious decision they have made, and not just because they were steered that way and/or it is the default in win7/8.

    How many actually DECIDED to use IE after trying the rest ?

    How many even KNOW there are other browsers ?

    Most are unaware what a browser is.. it's just 'the internet'.

    ActiveX on the one extreme and on the other, the moronic 'click here and download that file again if you want to download it because we didn't believe you the first time' on the other are two good enough reasons to consign IE to the bin.

    It's painful enough using it for the 2 minutes it takes me to download chrome... to actually USE it...you'd have to be a madman.

  30. Oops Notagain

    Hey JOE (Jacked Obsolete Explorer)

    Where you goin' with that gun in your hand?

    I'm going to Google and shoot that gang!

    Hey, JOE, you better run on down

    Head way south to Mexico way

    Way down where you can be free

    Goodbye everybody

    Hey, Hey JOE!

  31. Pelican Express

    Network Navigator will be the new name

    Knowing MS tradition to use plain dictionary words in a long sentence to name products. Such as "SQL Server Integration Services". The new IE name will be in the same veine and I anticipate it to be "Network Navigator".

  32. Tim 11

    Is it really that important

    "The browser is one of Microsoft’s premier pieces of software – a piece of code as important to Microsoft in terms of brand as its presence among developers building for the web and Windows and netizens consuming it."

    it it really though? sometimes I have problems with a web site in chrome so I just switch to FF or IE to view it. Since all browsers are basically the same nowadays I don't see why we should be fanatical about having a favourite browser like we used to. And that's from someone who works in IT - I reckon for most users if you switched them to a different browser with the same home page they wouldn't even notice the difference.

  33. Stevie

    Bah!

    I think they should generate a unique browser name each session and send that to the bloody stats gathering crap (the major reason I can't load bloody websites on my commute as I pass from one WiFi hotspot to the next before Google.nothingtodowiththethingIwant finishes dawdling and lets me see the content.

    For all the badness, it's worth remembering that the Browser Wars resulted in - free browsers. Netscape originally sold Navigator for Fifty dollars. That's fifty nineteen ninety five dollars too. that's like, I dunno, three grand in today's money. Or something.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bah!

      Opera's biggest mistake was asking money for it. It would have taken off more if they hadn't.

  34. Ken 16 Silver badge

    Microsoft Browser

    May as well name it in a way that places blame directly and obviates any subsequent renaming.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Goodbye-E

  36. Ilsa Loving

    Who cares

    I don't care what they call it, or how good they claim it is. I will never use Internet Explorer again, and I will continue to encourage everyone around me to avoid it like a plague.

    Sorry Microsoft... too little, too late.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "stop supporting IE 11 for Windows 7 SP1" in January 2016???

    I hope that's a typo, or they come out with IE12 or whatever they call it by then. Considering it will still be by far the #1 installed Microsoft OS at that time...

  38. Stoneshop

    Spyglass

    Obviously

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's with...

    What's with all the Microsoft hatred?

    The latest verison of Internet Explorer is actually quite decent and has fairly good developer tools. Although 95% of my development is on Linux and tested with Firefox/Chrome I do also run it past IE and actually find it better than Chrome (roll on the down arrows but that's life).

    In terms of names I suggest what my father calls IE: "Fred" - seriously. "I'll just fire old Fred up and see what's going on in the world"...

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Might be better, but still not good

    I was recently helping some family members upgrade their computers from Windows XP to Windows 8 and can say that IE in Win8 (whatever version it is) is still not good. There were a few times when it took forever to close a tab or open a new one because something bad was happening on a page--in theory this should not be a big problem for a browser that runs each tab in a separate thread or process (which IE does... right???). Seems like shoddy programming/design to me.

    I also ran into a case where IE didn't work right with some of Outlook.com's new UI... clicking on some menu items would take you to literally blank pages that would never load anything. Worked fine in Chrome. Good job, Microsoft. Might want to consider testing these things using your own browser.

    1. b166er

      Re: Might be better, but still not good

      I took 2 screengrabs of Chrome recently, using well over 500MB of RAM for 1 tab (the 1st screenshot it was using 900MB for Experts Exchange) THAT is absolutely crap.

      I'm now using Firefox for a while to see if it's any better. At the moment it's using 254MB for 2 tab.

      My first PC had 4MB of RAM and could just run Windows 95 and IE4. I know website were alot simpler then, but really, 900MB for 1 site?????

      So, to summarise, modern browsers are fucking terrible.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Might be better, but still not good

        "My first PC had 4MB of RAM and could just run Windows 95 and IE4. I know website were alot simpler then, but really, 900MB for 1 site?????"

        As disastrous as that seems, it's not necessarily the browser's fault. Web sites are no longer just some HTML and images. JavaScript is used to do a bunch of stuff that you'd usually only expect from native programs (chat, email, blah blah blah). And just like you can write slow and bloated native code, you can write slow and bloated JavaScript, only it's way easier since JavaScript is a s****y, ambiguous, weakly-typed scripting language that was never intended to do anything beyond maybe some form validation. Now we live in a completely eff'ed up world where people are writing C++ and compiling it to JavaScript which the browser is then doing its best to compile to native code. So you can definitely blame Google for promoting the idea that web pages should be "apps" but you can't necessarily blame browsers for how said apps are coded.

  41. Bernardo Sviso

    May I propose...

    (1) in light of Microsoft's (ahem) ground-breaking history in the arena of web-browser development, and

    (2) Microsoft's more recent history in matters of more current interest,

    that the new name for Microsoft's Internet Explorer should be...

    Spyglass !!!

    .

    Yep. Works for me...

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Names

    webI

    explorerI

    bingI

    Web Nav

    Web Bing

    Bing Sucker

    Wow Bing

    Inter.NET

    browseR

    HALCylon

    and finally

    INTERNET EXPLORER

  43. Toastan Buttar

    Call it "Jack Into Cyberspace"

    Relive the futurist dreams of your youth.

  44. Captain DaFt

    Aw c'mon

    As addicted to recycling as MS is, it'd probably be called:

    Internet Bob

    Internet Clippy

    Internet Vista

    Internet Kin

    Internet Zune

    Internet Metr... er, Internet Modern

    or, to build on past success, Internet for Workgroups 3.11

  45. wx666z

    IE 4 on Mac

    The only time the wife and I used IE was on classic Mac OS 7.6, IE 4 to be exact Netscape would not run, so I drank the Kool-aid and MS sent me a cd. Worked fine, until I discovered NetBSD and a working Netscape/Mozilla, and Lynx. I have to use IE at work, and have learned to live with it. at home FF/Chrome/Opera. Use what works for you...

  46. Gordon 11

    Where will this end?

    Internet Explorer could be getting a new name as Microsoft tries to escape the browser’s troubled past

    So, given the troubled present of 8 (8.1, 8.1U1) and Surface will they be changing the name of Windows as well?

    Will the next release be Windows Nein?

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Browser name?

    Has anybody suggested Internet Exploiter yet?

  48. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Eternally 1.0

    They'll never need to change it.

  49. Roj Blake Silver badge

    Navigator

    They should call it something original like Netscape, or Navigator

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Here's the actual usage.

    http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser_version_partially_combined-ww-monthly-201307-201407

    Different IE versions render so differently, I treat them as different browsers.

  51. Shaha Alam
    Trollface

    how about "On t' Net Explorer"?

    with Microsoft Certified Yorkshire Accent Enablement Program activated.

  52. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I get the impression...

    that no one here much likes IE, so don't use it or talk about it and maybe it'll fade away - only keep a copy you never know when you need to run obsolete software for really old archival stuff

  53. AbeSapian

    Why Not Call It Crumb?

    It's fitting with the way Microsoft treats its users.

  54. Potemkine Silver badge
    Mushroom

    MicroSoft BrowSer

    or MSBS... but it may not be specific enough.

  55. St33v
    Happy

    A literary reference

    The IT Crowd got it right. Jen as the archetypal user called it, 'the internet button'.

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