After reading the article I thought, well that’s just M$ repackaging features that are already in IE7 (and all other browsers) to make people think they are getting something new. It was the comments left by other people that really shocked me. The editor’s sensationalist gibberish combined with people’s ignorance of basic browser concepts such as cookies resulted in dozens believing IE8 would allow paedophiles and terrorists to roam the Internet without fear of being tracked by police, despite the best efforts of others to stop the runaway scaremongering.
Harlequin, I don’t think that sort of sensationalism is ever going away. And combating it with abruptness or negativity usually feeds it. It’s tough to “fix” people’s views on things, and it takes time. The shame is that there isn’t a lot of moderation getting fed to people from pretty much any source (moderation doesn’t sell, sensationalism does). Just some thoughts.
There are many people who don’t understand and its Microsoft’s way of luring in the un-knowledgeable into thinking they are more protected… Therefore grabbing more people…
and probably a way to catch more internet criminals… heh heh
I think as long as FireFox remains more stable and faster than IE, it’ll continue to gain some market share. It has already caused a disruption in the web industry. A ton of companies had written IE-only apps, assuming the “war was over” and have had to completely rethink that. It’s opened the web back up to Linux in a big way, and I encounter very few sites anymore that really require IE or even run optimally on IE. That makes me quite happy.
It’s a pretty easy sell to a lot of Windows users, too. “Ever had a virus? Yeah. Well, stop using IE and it will likely never happen again.” Not altogether completely true, but it does border on reality, and I’ve had a ton of people switch and never look back.
I wish I hadn’t posted this now. This is just breeding a lot of negativity.
I was more annoyed at the editor of the article than the people who didn’t understand how the internet works. I should have made the title reflect this.
I’m clueless when it comes to cars even though I drive one. I’ve no idea what goes on under the bonnet.
What I was really trying to say was that the editor mislead people by suggesting that disabling cookies and history could thwart police efforts to track cyber-criminals. Anyone who writes articles about technical subjects aimed at non-technical people should be trying to inform their audience not frighten them with tabloid-style sensationalism.
Therefore grabbing more people…
