German government warns against using MS Explorer

[Multibooter]

BBC: German government warns against using MS Explorer

Here the warning in the original posting: "BSI empfiehlt die vorübergehende Nutzung alternativer Browser". Nice to have such warnings by a government, like travel warnings issued by the U.S. State Department

Here an article by Focus, one of the 2 major German political magazines, comparable to Time or Newsweek. The browser ratings listed there are 1=very good, 3=soso

The warning is about IE 6, 7 and 8, i.e. about versions which came out with WinXP and later.

Maybe this official warning will lead to banks in other EU countries, for example Caixa in Spain, to make their online banking accessible with alternative browsers, not just IE. All websites involving money should be accessible with alternative browsers. For example, I had problems using Opera at ebay, although Firefox works fine with ebay.

It would be interesting to have a list of major websites which don't work properly with Opera or Firefox.

Edited January 17, 2010 by Multibooter

[Multibooter]

BBC: France joins Germany warning against Internet Explorer http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8465038.stm

[Multibooter]

BBC: Microsoft to patch hole in Internet Explorer http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8469632.stm

"The bad publicity has allowed rivals such as Firefox to gain market share. According to web analytics company StatCounter Firefox is now a close second to Internet Explorer (IE) in Europe, with 40% of the market compared to Microsoft's 45% share. In some markets, including Germany and Austria, Firefox has overtaken IE"

Edited January 21, 2010 by Multibooter

[jaclaz]

"The bad publicity has allowed rivals such as Firefox to gain market share. According to web analytics company StatCounter Firefox is now a close second to Internet Explorer (IE) in Europe, with 40% of the market compared to Microsoft's 45% share. In some markets, including Germany and Austria, Firefox has overtaken IE"

Risking to go slightly OT:

This is something I always wondered about.

You can get IE for Free (actually paying for a MS OS).

You can get Firefox for Free.

You can forget about both and get Opera for Free.

What real world consequences would have a difference in diffusion of one or the other browser in economical terms?

I mean, apart the "Firefox Rules, IE sucks" or, personally "Opera is better ANYWAY", motto's and indirect "prestige" of the makers, who cares?

Of course if it was for me, I would crucify:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079470/quotes

Brian: What will they do to me?

Ben the Prisoner: Oh you'll probably get away with crucifixion.

Brian: CRUCIFIXION?

Ben the Prisoner: Yeah, first offense.

ANY web developer that makes html or whatever that is only correctly displayed on IE and EXPECIALLY those that rely on IE only for financial transactions, but this has nothing to do with the actual market share, as I see it the Internet is a communication media and just like your choice between (say) a Nokia or a Motorola handy does not depend on how well you can hear the voice of the other part, I don't see a single reason why should I be "forced" to use a given browser instead of another one.

jaclaz