By Yoon Ja-young
Korea is sticking to its outdated web browsers. This is perplexing Microsoft which wants to phase out the 10-year-old Internet Explorer (IE) 6, as well as negatively affecting development of the IT industry.
According to Microsoft, 12 percent of the world is using IE 6 as of February. The ratio in Korea marks 24.8 percent, the second highest in the world following China.
“The browser is 10 years old, but people here don’t seem to want to change,” said a representative for Microsoft Korea.
Since the release of IE 6, Microsoft has launched IE 7, 8 and recently 9. The latest versions provide users with improved speed, tabbed browsing and privacy settings. They better protect users from new attacks and threats. Upgrades are free but people here are sticking to the old version.
The problem stems from the operating system. Seven out of ten PCs in the country are based on Windows XP, which is also a decade old, though Microsoft has since launched Windows Vista and Windows 7. IE 9 doesn’t run on Windows XP.
The representative for Microsoft Korea said that Koreans are very slow in switching to upgraded versions. “They think Windows XP is enough. Hangul 97 is also pretty old, but many still use it. Office 2003 is widely used, but the latest version came out in 2010. The new versions have better capabilities, but people seem to be satisfied with old services,” she said. It contrasts with other countries where users are eager to try new releases.
Why, then, are Koreans reluctant to change? It seems unusual considering that the country is an IT powerhouse, eager to try the latest gadgets.
Some people are not upgrading the browser as their Windows XP is an illegally copy and they can’t receive many of the Microsoft upgrades. “We don’t have the exact number of pirated Windows XP, but Koreans have a different perception about software compared with those in other countries,” the Microsoft Korea representative said. “In other countries, individual users also purchase software as they don’t approve of piracy, but it isn’t so here.” According to the Korea Software Property Rights Council, damage from software piracy amounted to 302.6 billion won last year, up three times from the previous one. The biggest victim was Windows by Microsoft. The council found 20,261 pirated cases for Windows while monitoring online services. “The idea is prevalent among people here that software is free. They have no hesitation downloading it,” said a representative for the council.
The public sector is also contributing to the prevalence of the old browser. Many government related sites are customized for IE 6 and wouldn’t run smoothly on IE 9. A lot of websites in the country aren’t being upgraded as many who purchased PCs with Windows Vista were advised to downgrade their system to Windows XP.
The old versions are also prone to security breaches. “Hackers have progressed rapidly during the past 10 years. Even if we provide updates for security patches, it is still vulnerable,” the Microsoft Korea representative said.
It will also save hours of work for Web developers who currently have to consider IE 6, 7, 8 and 9 when developing a new service.
Microsoft’s website www.theie6countdown.com, encourages people to upgrade their browser and it succeeded in pulling down the ratio by 9 percentage points globally from the previous year. Microsoft Korea said it plans to launch a campaign through portals to induce people to upgrade.