They won't switch, Bill, because it takes the initial effort of...

1. thinking about something new
2. finding out about it
3. then doing it
4. thus initiating change! (ouch!)

This list leaves off one very important item.

5. keep the new thing up to date.

With IE, I can depend on Microsoft to keep up with new threats and vulnerabilities, and to promptly and automatically provide the needed patches. With ALL of the other browsers, so far as I've been able to determine, nothing is fixed except when a "new version" is released, and installing a new version requires re-learning (or at least reverifying) what you need to know. (If you don't have the latest version of any of the others YOU HAVE HOLES that malware can get into, and new releases are not frequent enough to be considered "prompt fixes.")

Much is made of all the "add ons" that you can get with other browsers, but it seems to me that it's a lot of work to pick which ones are really helpful and which are just foxtails and fuzzy dice. Accordng to apparently knowledgeable reports, there are several "apps" in common use that are known to be dangerous for those who use them, and I don't have time to pick and confirm all the ones I might want.

I have all the "helpers" I need with IE, and seldom have to look for anything not automatically already there, and I CAN TURN OFF anything I don't want, temporarily or permanently.

The "Developers" uniformly lament that IE doesn't handle all of HTML5 and CSS? as well as other browsers but there are two very simple FACTS that need to be considered:

1. HTML 5 IS NOT A STANDARD. HTML5 was "released for reading and comments" more than two years ago, and the "proposed standard" has been revised twice "for reading and comments" but NOBODY expects a final version within at least the next two years (and most say at least "4 or more"). The result is that lots of developers are "reading into" the "non-standard" a whole bunch of stuff that they hallucinate, and that is unlikely EVER to be uniformly functional.

2. CSS-whatever (there are multiple versions claimed) is in about the same state, except that it's impossible even to find a coherent "version" to read to see what's really likely to be a stable part of anything that may eventually be agreed to among the herd of people propounding their half-vast ideas of how to post (intrusively) more advertising for greater profit, and how to amuse children with more things that flash, wiggle, make funny noises unrelated to content.

(Permission to fart, sneeze, cough, and spit as needed is not withheld, but most of the rest of it is just trash.)

IE actually is the most completely compliant browser with respect to finalized and released standards extant. IE does include some "non-standard" features, but mostly where they are consistent with broadly accepted (even if not standard) website design practices. The "features" that break my web experience and that IE might render differently than "adventurous" site designers might expect are NOT A PROBLEM for me.

IE functions are integral with the operation of other Windows functions, so you MUST HAVE IE on the machine in order for Windows to function properly and safely. If you don't have a current version of IE on the machine, you don't have/get all the patches necessary to keep your whole OS reasonable secure. If you don't want to use IE for browsing, you don't need to; but it must be present and up to date. I see no real reason to have another browser when IE does everything I need it to do.

As to the linked article from the first post, Microsoft used the approach of looking at how idiots (naive users) used Office and completely redesigned it based on "idiot users." The result was that you have to be an "idiot" in order to think it remains useful. While enhancing the pleasures of the naive users is certainly something to look at, it's not a valid approach to making efficient and powerful programs - but may have some value if all you want is "volume marketing."

Worrying about which browser to use is mostly just "looking for new toys." I have work to do and sufficient toys at hand.

John