Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is rapidly catching up with Netscape’s Navigator and Communicator as the primary browser used in the enterprise, according to the latest browser survey from Zona Research. The July 1998 survey of IT professionals at 260 US corporations reveals that 54% of respondents are using Netscape products as their primary browser, with 45% using Microsoft’s IE and 1% using other browsers. The Redwood City, California-based market research firm says that 15% of respondents are using Netscape Navigator 4.X, 12% Navigator 3.X and 27% Communicator 4.X., while 12% are using IE 3.X and 33% IE 4.X. Netscape’s lead over Microsoft has narrowed to just 9% since Zona’s last survey in September 1997 which gave Netscape a 62% share compared to Microsoft’s 36% and other browsers’ 2%. This erosion of Netscape’s market share has occurred despite the fact that Navigator and its source code are now freely available and no longer represent a financial impediment to deployment. Zona says that IE’s share of the corporate market has grown steadily since January 1997 when it had 28% compared to Netscape’s 70% and other browsers’ 2%. However, IE has seen dramatic growth in respect to corporate browser adoption policies. When asked if their companies encourage or require use of a particular browser, 64% of those surveyed said their companies have such a policy, compared to 59% in last September’s survey. Of the 165 respondents who specified in the July 1998 survey which product is the browser of policy, 55% said that IE is the standard while 45% designated Navigator. Clearly, corporate browser policies have continued to influence browser placement within the enterprise, and we now see that almost two-thirds of our sample do not have unfettered choice of the browser they use, says Clay Ryder, Zona Research’s vice president and chief analyst. Ryder notes that over one third of the IE products installed due to corporate browser policy are version 3, not version 4, products. We believe this is largely due to the reluctance of many corporate IT departments to tamper with existing Windows 95 installations which include IE 3. For many enterprise users, there appears to be no ‘killer application’ in IE 4 that might force the issue, he says.
