Many companies do not allow employees to download a free Internet browser, the reason being that the Windows operating systems comes bundled with the Internet Explorer. But it seems a lot of businesses are now allowing employees to download the Firefox Web browser. According to JupiterResearch, downloads of Firefox increased this year, with the research firm claiming that the number could only rise after Microsoft released its Internet Explorer 7 earlier this year.JupiterResearch says that the increase in the downloading of Firefox could be because it can be deployed without creating problems for other desktop applications. “Workers apparently have found the browser’s features, which include the popular tabbed browsing, more useful than the older Internet Explorer 6 from Microsoft Corp,†InformationWeek quoted the research firm as saying.
The feature gap, however, has vanished with the release out of beta this week of Internet Explorer 7. But few businesses are expected to deploy the browser upgrade until they install Vista, Microsoft’s major Windows upgrade that’s set for release to businesses in November.
“The reason for the delay is IE’s tight integration with the operating system. Installing IE 7 on a Windows XP machine in an office would require a lot of testing first to determine the impact on business applications. Rather than test twice, companies are more likely to stick with IE6 until Vista,†IW said.
But Firefox will not be overtaking IE in a hurry in the business segment, even if it notches up higher downloads, because IE is estimated to control 82-86 per cent of the corporate market, compared to Firefox’s 11.5-12.5 per cent.
