Business space unexcited by IE9 release

Analysts remain sceptical about initial enterprise IE9 take-up in spite of positive reviews

The latest version of Internet Explorer will be released by Microsoft to the public early Tuesday. The browser sports improved performance and support for HTML5 along with additional security features to help protect user privacy.

Industry analysts said that while the browser brings encouraging and much-needed updates from Microsoft, existing factors will limit its ability to move into the business space.

Ovum principal analyst Richard Edwards said that as far as the enterprise is concerned, he believes the release will be considered a "non-event".

"This is largely because IE9 does not run on Windows XP, the operating system running on 67 per cent of corporate desktops," noted Edwards.

"Organisations with public-facing web sites will probably try to encourage consumers to use the more capable, web standards-compliant IE9 in order to make life easier for their web developers and to wow them with a richer experience, but non-technical users will probably wait until Microsoft pushes the browser out in a Windows service pack," he added.

Gartner analyst David Smith told V3.co.uk that while he agrees uptake among business users will be slow, compatibility with Windows XP will be less of a factor than traditional adoption patterns.

Smith explained that in general consumers and home users will adopt new technologies at a faster pace than more tightly-controlled enterprise IT environments.

"Even if it weren't something that couldn't run on XP you are not going to see rapid adoption," he said.

Edwards predicted that the browser would be a hit with web developers and high-end consumer users, while Smith said that the release would help Microsoft in its market-share battle with rivals such as Firefox and Chrome.

"It is an important release in that Microsoft has been losing share in browsers for many years," said Smith.

"This is an indication that they are taking it really seriously, it puts the performance issues to rest finally."