

Tell HN: Go to Google with IE, it offers Chrome DL, but not from Firefox - dan_the_welder

If you go to the Google home page it offers an icon and a Chrome download direct link if you are using Internet Explorer but not if you are running Firefox.<p>I tried it on two different machines. Interesting.
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ErrantX
I have actually seen this once or twice on FireFox (well I recall seeing it
and I only use Chrome and Firefox :) so it must have been FF).

One thing I have noticed (but cant verify this properly) is that since I used
Chrome on this IP address the ad has disappeared. I could be wrong though -
but I definitely cant reproduce the ad in any version of IE, FIrefox or Opera
right now.

~~~
kwamenum86
Use a web proxy to troubleshoot IP issues

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eapen
﻿If you try changing your user-agent, you will see that it only shows up for
IE6&IE7 but not for IE8. Maybe it is showing up for the older less CSS
compliant browsers.

But switching to older versions of Firefox doesn't show the Chrome download
though - so it could indeed have to do with some agreement with Mozilla.

~~~
jcl
FWIW, Google provides most of the funding for the Mozilla corporation.

[http://www.betanews.com/article/Google-extends-its-
investmen...](http://www.betanews.com/article/Google-extends-its-investment-
in-Mozilla-restores-MPL-license/1219963665)

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JoelMcCracken
But why doesn't it offer an Opera download? What about Safari?

~~~
DrJokepu
Opera: While there were times when Opera was a decent broswer (the pre-Mozilla
Suite era), these days it can be a real pain to maintain support for Opera as
it has the tendency to do the dodgiest things at the most unexpected times and
the small userbase just doesn't motive many web developers to work around
these problems, hence offering it as an alternative to IE6 maybe isn't a very
good idea as a considerably large amount of pages are broken in Opera.

Safari: We're talking about IE6, so we have established that this is on
Windows. Safari is a great browser but it's not a very great experience on
Windows, the UI looks out-of-place, the fonts look weird (for users used to
Windows font rendering), etc. I honestly don't think that it's a wise thing to
suggest Safari for Windows users still using IE6, especially since the release
of Google Chrome. (But I wouldn't hesitate to suggest it to anyone using OS
X.)

~~~
lucumo
_> as a considerably large amount of pages are broken in Opera._

Prove it.

~~~
DrJokepu
Here you go:

A Google search for "firefox compatibility" yields 3,840,000 results while
Firefox having 47.9% "market share".

Search for "chrome compatibility" yields 1,460,000 results while having 6.5%
share.

Search for "safari compatibility" yields 2,800,000 results while having 3.3%
share.

Search for "opera compatibility" yields 2,450,000 results, 2.1% share.

I know that opera is the oldest participant in this list so it had more time
to accumulate these results, but still, these (not at all scientific) numbers
are highlighting that there are relatively more compatibility issues with
opera than with other browsers.

~~~
lucumo
Not only the oldest participant, but also the only participant old enough to
have been around during the IE monopoly. And then there's the people just
parroting each other without any first-hand experience.

This is not proof. This is not even an indication. You have yet to show a
single (real) site where compatibility issues with Opera arise, let alone "a
considerably large amount of pages".

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dan_the_welder
Well my Firefox is current so perhaps the conspiracy is not as huge as I
thought originally.

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csomar
I saw it before that in IE6 few times.

In my Win7, IE8 I never saw it!!

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mooism2
Which versions of IE?

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dan_the_welder
If you go with IE 8 it has a download option for Google Toolbar

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vijaydev
Chrome in IE 6 Google Toolbar in IE 8

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geuis
Sorry, but this isn't true. I am constantly testing cross browser issues every
day and I have seen the chrome download ad on google.com in ie, safari, and ff
at one time or another. I work on a Mac and have even seen it then.

~~~
dan_the_welder
I commented below that it is triggered by the age not brand of the browser. My
bad.

"Well my Firefox is current so perhaps the conspiracy is not as huge as I
thought originally."

