Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – April 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for April 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.81 – 55.83 = 0.02 percent
2. Firefox:  20.30 – 20.21 = 0.09 percent
3. Chrome:  16.35 – 16.45 = 0.10 percent
4. Safari:  5.38 – 5.31 = 0.07 percent
5. Opera:  1.73 – 1.74 = 0.01 percent
6. Others:  0.42 – 0.48 = 0.06 percent

COMMENTS:

Last month things were pretty quiet in the browsers’ arena.  Just about every one of the players held their ground with the exception of Chrome who lost 0.10 points and Safari who won 0.07.  Firefox is keeping a steady trend upwards which is good news for me; being a devoted Firefox user.

Opera is frozen in deep ice.  Nothing they do seems to work to get their engine in motion.  For a moment I thought Google was going to gobble it up, but at the end of day nothing happened.  One thing I can say about Opera—they are persistent people.  No matter what, they keep struggling forward.  I like that.  As the saying goes, “persistence makes perfection”.  I hope it works for them in the long haul.

See you next month, and in the meantime, have fun and live your life the best you can.  Good Day.

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Microsoft is Joining the 7″ Tablet Bandwagon

Credit: Microsoft Inc.

In response to the success of the Google’s 7 inch Nexus, Amazon’s 7 inch Kindle Fire and Apple’s 7.9 inch iPad mini, Microsoft is joining the 7 inch fray. The Wall Street Journal reports that Redmond is developing a smaller version of its Surface tablet, and that it will launch later this year.

If tablets are booming, those in the 7-8 inch category are doubly booming, with IDC reporting that more than half of all tablets that shipped in the fourth quarter of 2012 were this size.

The lower price of the smaller devices makes them much more palatable to cost-conscious buyers. Microsoft is aware of the need for lower-priced devices, and has recently altered the Windows 8 hardware requirements to permit smaller, cheaper screens. Many buyers also find the smaller form factor more convenient due to its reduced size and weight.

The WSJ also notes that Microsoft is working on a smartphone of its own, but that component suppliers were unclear if there were any plans to actually bring this to market.

The paper quotes a person familiar with the situation saying that while 7-inch tablets were not part of Microsoft’s product plans last year  company executives have realized they need to respond to the growth and popularity of small slates. Which boils down to Redmond is having to play catch up yet again.

Microsoft finds itself increasingly threatened in its PC business. The future of PCs is being questioned as users move to alternative computing devices such as tablets and smartphones. Experts agree that first quarter PC shipments totaled 76.3 million units, down 13.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

The decline was worse than the 7.7 percent previously forecast by the analyst firm, and the market could be headed into further contraction. Microsoft’s Windows 8 did not help PC shipments grow, as fewer consumers are upgrading PCs to Windows 8, and businesses are largely sticking with Windows 7, IDC analysts said.

As the tablets market gets more and more crowded, soon we will see the separation of the men from the boys.  Darwin’s theory regarding the survival of the fittest will once again be tested.  May be best one win.  Good Day.

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Microsoft is Pulling the Plug Off Windows XP

Credit: Microsoft Inc.

It was recently announced by a Microsoft’s spokesman, that the Redmond juggernaut would will end all support for the Windows XP operating system it launched in New York on October 25, 2001 in approximately 365 days.  Both Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 will go out of support on April 8, 2014, and XP users will stop receiving any new security updates, hotfixes and support (free or paid) from Microsoft. Worldwide, just under 40 percent of all desktops and laptops still use XP today, according to the latest data from Net Applications’ NetMarketShare.

Microsoft already ended mainstream support for Windows XP back in April 2009, but continued to offer extended support for commercial customers and security updates for all customers.

After April 2014, Microsoft writes, using XP is an “at your own risk” situation for “any customers choosing not to migrate,” and migrating will likely become costlier the longer a business stays on XP.

I don’t feel the need to upgrade my XP operating system to either Windows 7 or Windows 8 no matter what they say.  “If it ain’t broke don’t fit it” is my motto.  I have an old HP desktop system with a maximum of 2 GB RAM and an aged graphics card which will not be able to handle Microsoft’s newest software.  As long as my computer system keeps purring, I intend to use Windows XP.  It’s a wonderful piece of software which has proved to be the best operating system Microsoft has ever come up with.  Nope, no upgrading for this old man.  Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – March 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for March 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.83 – 55.82 = 0.01 percent
2. Firefox:  20.21 – 20.12 = 0.09 percent
3. Chrome:  16.45 – 16.27 = 0.18 percent
4. Safari:  5.31 – 5.42 = 0.11 percent
5. Opera:  1.74 – 1.82 = 0.08 percent
6. Others:  0.46 – 0.54 = 0.08 percent

COMMENTS:

On the desktop, Internet Explorer saw no meaningful change, at 55.83 percent for the month compared to 55.82 last month. Firefox and Chrome both edged up a little, gaining 0.09 and 0.18 points for shares of 20.21 and 16.45 percent respectively. Safari and Opera both nudged downward, losing 0.11 and 0.08 points to drop to 5.31 and 1.74 percent respectively.

Interesting to see how Apple Safari is loosing ground while Google Chrome has made a considerable turnaround.  Never a dull moment in the technological world. Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – February 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for February 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.82 – 55.14 = 0.68 percent
2. Firefox:  20.12 – 19.94 = 0.18 percent
3. Chrome:  16.27 – 17.48 = 1.21 percent
4. Safari:  5.42 – 5.24 = 0.18 percent
5. Opera:  1.82 – 1.75 = 0.07 percent
6. Others:  0.54 – 0.45 = 0.09 percent

COMMENTS:

There was a great surprise from Net Applications’ numbers.  All the players received a green score except, Chrome which slid backwards a walloping 1.21 percent.  Even though Google has broken the $800.00 per share landmark, and making all the right decisions, users are not taking the bait.  Microsoft Internet Explorer did very well advancing forward 0.68 percent.

Mozilla’s Firefox  continues to hold its ground.  It edged forward 0.18 increasing its distance from a sliding Chrome.  So far it has shown its resiliency holding a solid second place despite the ferocious attacks from Google’s camp.

Google Chrome was the only loser last month.  It’s the only player who won a red medal which is a bad sign.  Losing 1.21 percentage points in 30 days is a bad omen.  I’m sure they are seriously discussing what can be done to allure more users into its camp.  It was doing well, until the word spread out that Google was taking a look at the private surfing information of Chrome users.  An invasion of privacy is something people will not accept.

Apple Safari gained 0.18 percentage points in February.  The unexpected acceptance of the mini iPad tablet worldwide is indisputable and this success will positively affect the spread of Safari.  This means more users of Safari and a better a market share place in the future.

Norwegian Opera is struggling to keep its hard-earned global market share.  It moved forward 0.07 which is admirable, considering that they are fighting against formidable adversaries..  It’s not a big secret that the real action is in the mobile and tablets industry where it’s a serious contender.  Good Day.

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Microsoft’s Computers Hacked

Credit: Microsoft Corporation

Large American corporation are the target of malicious software supposedly originating in China.  Facebook and Apple have been victims of computer hacking and now Microsoft is joining the sinister list of the recent hijacking spree.

Microsoft has disclosed that it recently fell victim to the same type of cyberattack that targeted Apple and Facebook. “During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organizations,” the company said on its Security Response Center website Friday.

Microsoft joins a list of companies that have recently reported being hacked, including Facebook, Apple, Twitter, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Apple and Facebook were both targeted via a vulnerability in Oracle’s Java platform, and Microsoft said Friday it was hit by a similar attack. “This type of cyber attack is no surprise to Microsoft and other companies that must grapple with determined and persistent adversaries,” it said.

The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Apple each pointed at China as the source of the attacks. Twitter didn’t say where it thought the attacks originated but urged 250,000 of its users to change their passwords.  China has denied involvement in the attacks.

By now you must have heard of sinister Unit 61398 of the People’s Liberation army “an overwhelming percentage of attacks on American corporations, organizations and government agencies originate in and around their white tower,” claims The New York Times who were themselves recently owned by the 1337 h4ck3r5 of Unit 61398.

Earlier this month U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order seeking better protection of the country’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.  We have to be extremely careful in determining what sites we visit on the Internet, and search for the best antivirus software you can afford.  All precautions are necessary during these perilous times of constant cyber attacks aimed at our computers.  I’ve been hit a couple of times and it hurts.  Ouch!  Caveat and Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – January 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for January 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.14 – 54.77 = 0.37 percent
2. Firefox:  19.94 – 19.82 = 0.12 percent
3. Chrome:  17.48 – 18.04 = 0.56 percent
4. Safari:  5.24 – 5.24 = 0.00 percent
5. Opera:  1.75 – 1.71 = 0.04 percent
6. Others:  0.45 – 0.42 = 0.03 percent

COMMENTS:

Every month I’m curious to see how the Masters of the Universe performed the previous months.  Some months are unexpected surprises, others are more of the same.  Microsoft Internet Explorer’s boat is still sailing full speed ahead.  Its compass has been fixed and the direction is North, propelled by a fierce commercial blitzkrieg promoting Windows 8, Microsoft Surface and Microsoft Office 2013.   Last month Internet Explorer plunged forward 0.37 percentage points—from 54.77 to 55.14—compared with 53.83 points ten months ago.  Over the years, Microsoft have proved to its competitors that they know how to hold their ground.  The numbers are speaking loud and clear.  Microsoft wants to stay in the game…and if possible—win!

Mozilla’s Firefox is fighting tooth and nail to keep its fragile second place.  In January 2013, Firefox staved off the rivals with a walloping 0.12 percentage point gain. After dropping market share for several months, they have been able to put their house in order and are clawing back to a strong second place closely followed by strong competitor Google Chrome.  The red-hot competition between these two behemoths is fascinating to watch.

Google Chrome dipped dramatically last month from 18.04 to 17.48 percent.  That’s a scary drop of 0.56 percent which is huge if you ask me. Google has made three big bets on the future of computing; Chrome (browser), Google Apps (cloud), and Android (mobile). The trends are pretty clear. All the exciting new applications are running in the browser, with application code in the cloud, and the cell phone as the platform….2010 was the year that enterprises of all sizes started their transition to Gmail and Google Apps, and took their first steps towards the vision of the future.  That future might be blurred if Chrome continues to fall behind.  February will be interesting to watch.  I’ll keep you posted.

Apple Safari froze last month.  It didn’t move an inch.  Wall Street is not very happy either.  For some reason, Apple’s shares are dropping in value.  I understand an Apple share is selling for $453.62 which is difficult to understand when they could be had for $702.10 on September 19, 2012.  I wonder what ever happened to Apple’s mojo and the magic of its extraordinary products.

Norwegian Opera remained relatively stagnant in January.  It moved forward a meager 0.04.  The real action is in the mobile and gadgets industry where it’s a serious contender.  I’m sure they are looking closely at the computing tablets market as well.    Good Day.

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At Last Microsoft is Understanding the Web

Credit: Microsoft Corporation

After years of going around in circles without a clear understanding of how the Web works, Steve Ballmer and his elves at last have seen the light.  Recently they have made important strategic moves in the right direction, (e.g. the launching of Windows 8, the marketing of the Surface computer, and introducing Microsoft Office 2013 online, also known as Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium).  The latter is a typical demonstration that Microsoft can  still can tap dance on top of the head of a pin.

With the launch of Office 2013, Microsoft is introducing a creative way for you to buy its software. No need to go to the store for a shrink-wrapped boxed version, it’s moved to a subscription-based model. For $99 you get what’s called Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium. You can install the software on up to five devices in your household. There’s also a “University” version for college students and faculty, which costs $79.99 for a four-year plan. This is nice since many families today have a main computer and then kids tend to have laptops of their own for schoolwork. The software can also be used on Mac computers, though Microsoft is still using Office 2011 for Macs.

The new Office suite of applications is aimed at home users rather than businesses, and is designed to extend Microsoft’s domination of the workplace to the home office and beat back growing competition from Google Inc’s free online apps.

For your yearly subscription fee, you get pretty much everything in the Office suite and then some. In addition to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the often-overlooked OneNote, among others, you get what is called Office on Demand. This means you can access these programs on any Windows 7—or Windows 8-connected PC. You also get an extra 20GB of SkyDrive space over and above the 7GB Microsoft already offers for free, to save all your documents in the cloud.

While it’s been three years since the last version of Office was released, Microsoft plans on pushing out updates to programs as soon as they’re ready. If PowerPoint or Word has an update, a user can download it—there’s no need to wait for a whole new version of the suite to come out. Some service packs will be automatically streamed to your computer when they’re ready so you’re always up to date.

Customers are getting used to the idea of paying a yearly fee for online services.  We pay monthly or yearly for services such as Netflix and Spotify. It makes sense that Microsoft is looking to capitalize off this paid model.  Digital newspapers are also following this monthly or yearly subscription strategy.

You may think $99 a year is a lot to pay for software, and you might be right, depending on your circumstances. If you have just one computer, perhaps two, and use it for mainly word processing and a spreadsheet, you’d be better off buying a boxed copy of Office Home and Student.

However, for families with two or three laptops in the house and perhaps a kid off at school with another one, a $99 yearly fee makes good sense. Especially with the SkyDrive storage and cloud-based access to all your email, calendars and documents.

Two and a half years in the making, the new Office is designed to extend Microsoft’s domination of the business market and counter the growing popularity of Google Apps, a collection of online-only, Office-style applications Google provides free for home users and sells to businesses for $50 per user per year.

Microsoft is hoping its move into online services, alongside its new Surface tablets, will push it into the forefront of mobile computing, which has been led by Google’s Android software and Apple’s combination of slick hardware and apps.

You don’t need to pay up front to try the cloud apps included in Office 365 Home Premium. There’s a 30-day trial available for free at Office.com. Of course, if you’re allergic to all things from Redmond, you can always use Google Drive’s free Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Form and Drawing cloud apps.  I for one, don’t need to pay a cent for a productivity suite.  I’ve been using Google Drive, with excellent results.

However, if you need to use Microsoft Office, the latest offer from Microsoft makes a lot of sense, plus you will save you some cents too.  (No pun intended).  Good Day.

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Google is Flexing Its Muscle With a Brand New Mobile Phone and Tablet

Credit: Google Inc.

As you are probably aware, Google gobbled up Motorola when it was on a free fall.  For a while, nothing happened with this acquisition.  Now it seems that nuts and bolts are beginning to move with technology acquired from Motorola.  According to the rumor mill, Google is preparing a launch of an unbreakable mobile phone and a new tablet.

The rumored “X Phone” and “X Tablet” will mark the first time Google controls everything from the device’s hardware to its software, following Apple’s operating strategy. Rumored specs are said to include a top-notch camera and photo software, a bendable display and a high-end ceramic case. Now, Google CEO Larry Page has incited a new round of speculation last Tuesday with comments he made during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call.

“In today’s multi-screen world, the opportunities are endless… battery life is a huge issue… when you drop your phone it shouldn’t go splat,”  he said. ”There’s a real potential to invent new and better experiences.”

Google’s CEO also added that simple tasks such as recharging a phone’s battery can even be a pain for some people. It is believed that Page was hinting at the possible “X Phone,” and that it could include extra long battery life, wireless charging capabilities and an unbreakable case.

Google could announce its Motorola-built flagship smartphone and tablet at its annual Google I/O developer conference on May 15th.  Let’s wait and see what the fuzz is all about.  I’m sure Apple and Samsung are sleeping with one eye open waiting for the formal launch in May.  Yep, consumer electronics is a cut-throat industry.

Oh, before I forget, there’s another persistent rumor out there that Dell could go private again and that Microsoft could cough out several billion dollars to buy part of the pie.  There’s never a dull moment in Silicon Valley.  Good Day.

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The Underlying Trends in Personal Computing

Snapshot of my Sony Vaio laptop with an Intel Core i5-2450M CPUC 2.50 GHz processor, 4.0 GB RAM and Intel HD Graphics Family. Operating system, MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit SP1. It’s a traditional workhorse laptop for heavy-duty performance. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

When I purchased a full-fleshed laptop in July of 2012, I thought I was making a good Deal.  For $899.97 I acquired a traditional heavy-duty machine which would be my spare computing tool if my main HP desktop would go sour.  There were subtle indications that the loyal beast would die anytime soon and I needed a Plan B to keep up my blogging activities without any interruptions.  So far the old PC is still purring like a kitten which is good news, but I feel relieved with a safety net on my desktop.

At the time of the purchase, I wasn’t aware that dramatic changes were happening under the surface.  The computer industry was experiencing what is known in Business Administration, as a Strategic Inflection Point.  By definition, a Strategic Inflection Point is the time of transition of a company’s competitive position that requires the company to change the current path and adapt to the new situation or risk declining profits.

An inflection point can be considered a turning point after which a dramatic change, with either positive or negative results, is expected to result. Companies, industries, sectors and economies are dynamic and constantly evolving. Inflection points are more significant than the small day-to-day progress made and the effects of the change are often well-known and widespread.

Andy Grove, Intel’s co-founder, described a strategic inflection point as “an event that changes the way we think and act.” Inflection points can be a result of action taken by a company, or through actions taken by another entity, that has a direct impact on the company.

If you have followed the latest computing trends, you probably know that PC demand growth has waned over the past year as more consumers flock to ultraportable and increasingly powerful tablets and smartphones for basic computing.  Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other stalwarts of the PC industry are now fighting tooth and nail to sustain growth as tablet computers eat into their PC-related business.

The inflection point is the change of computing habits by consumers.  PCs are being replaced by touch screen devices such as Windows 8 convertibles, detachables, touch-screen laptops or just plain tablets.  The computing scenario is changing into a PC Plus world even as we speak.

Convertibles have swivel touch screens that can not be detached from the unit.  The processor and related electronics are under the keyboard, so these systems will have a better performance because the design affords more opportunity to keep the processor cool.

Detachables are essentially tablets with well-integrated keyboard docks.  Detachables put the processor electronics behind the screen. This usually forces PC makers to use a low-performance, more power efficient chip like Intel’s “Clover Trail” Atom.

Touch-screen laptops are traditional clamshell laptops with a touch screen.  They are beginning to emerge in the marketplace.  Maybe by this time next year, the abundance of laptops on display at your local electronic shop will have touch screens.

Plain tablets are devices that are marketed as standalone units.  Tablets that can run the full version of Windows 8 and Windows RT will offer a good battery life and a lightweight, slim design but won’t be very fast.  That is, don’t expect them to multitask Microsoft Office, Photoshop and other demanding application without bringing the device to its knees.  Compared to notebooks, tablets are still maturing in terms of computing power and functionality for business and home use.

I will expand on this subject in the near future.  If you have followed my blog posts, you already know that I own a third generation (Retina Display) Apple iPad paired with a Bluetooth keyboard. Productivity is my immediate goal.

Most pundits agree that touchscreens are coming and they’re coming fast.  Holiday season shoppers shunned Windows 8 desktops and notebooks in favor of tablets and smartphones, resulting in a 4.3 percent fall in PC sales in the fourth quarter, research firm Gartner said recently.

Worldwide PC shipments declined 90.3 million units in the last three months of 2012 due to a shift in consumer habits as much as a weak global economy.  “Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by ‘cannibalizing’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.

In July 2012, I thought I was buying the best laptop in the market with all the bells and whistles—I was wrong.  The laptop was already old inside the box.  The future lies in touch screen computers, tablets and smart phones, which are more than just phones.  They are really powerful computers that also make phone calls.  Good Day.

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