Microsoft proves yet again they should make vacuum cleaners...

..'cos truly no one can suck like they do. Seriously, when it comes to the last five years with their web browser's user experience and strategy, they win at the suck. Big time.

Were not even talking the issues of web standards IE have been plagued with, and why it has been so bad since IE5, I'm just focusing on trying to download the new version!

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/internet-explorer/download/ie-9/worldwide  

 

I had to test with IE9 recently, and so with a glimmer of hope that things can't have got worse, and may have changed for the better, off I trot to be greeted with this monster page:

The download page alone, displays at least nearly 50 different languages and versions. Utter complexity upfront, because y' know the Slovenian Server version of IE9 needs to be on this download page...Yes I grant you this is IE9 Beta, so probably more a geek audience downloading it, but there are many others out there who will. They are called 'customers'. So for most people they then get greeted with this welcoming option;

Now I know what this is above, but for most people I expect the following two thoughts to appear:

WTF is 32bit and 64bit??

and secondly...

WhereTF is Windows XP??

 

Nowhere, I can find on the site anything to say where the XP version is, and I have to use Google to find out that for over 50% of Microsoft's o/s customers IE9 will not be available for them.

Microsoft do have a statement;

"Since you're running Windows XP, you won't be able to install Internet Explorer 9 unless you upgrade to a more recent version of Windows."

The XP statement they have is very surreptitiously placed within a banner on the IE9 site home page, but it's not clearly marked to me, and if you end up on the download page via search engine as I did, there is zero mention of XP being a no go. 

So really...wow. A whole new depth of 'fuck you' is served up here. Several hundred dollars, of perhaps millions if your a business, just to be able to use... a browser.  It's clear Microsoft want your money and that's the experience I get. If you have not bought our new toy, effectively screw you and your business. It's not after all, referred to as 'Internet Exploiter' for nothing y'know. This is why your browser share declined for years, is still declining, and will continue to decline.

Dyson should concede, Microsoft again prove their power to suck.