By whom? Unfortunately, the EU didn't move fast enough to get it removed entirely from Win7 and replaced by a ballot selection including other browsers and I thought it was to happen in the US, too. Also, more than 1/3 of all internet users do not use IE.
No suprise to see IE lagging miles behind. Chrome is great - just cannot stand close to firefox though due to lack of addons.
Now you're arguing that IE isn't considered the default browser? Talk about a witch hunt! IE is the default browser in Windows, which is by a massive margin the most common home PC OS, therefore it could easily be considered the default browser of the world, without much competition at all. If it wasn't the default, it wouldn't have anywhere near the users it has, if any (there's a few choice people who still think IE is the best in the world, but I guess there are some people thinking blowing themselves up is going to get them a bunch of virgins... not everyone is quite "with it"), but that's a different story. Like it or not, at this stage it is the default browser of the world and will be for a few years yet.
Like I said, not for long, and it wouldn't be if the EU had moved a little faster. Also, IE only leads because of Fortune 500 companies stuck with Microsoft software that only works with IE, and specifically IE6. Remove IE6 from the mix (around 20%, I think) and IE has the smaller browser market pie of 35-45%.
In 5-10 years, it'll be a different story. Right now, ESPECIALLY networks (most are managed by overpaid morons) they use mainly IE, my old school used IE6 even though 7 was available. They could upgrade to IE7, but that's work they don't really need to put themselves out to do... so they just left it at IE6. I think the official excuse is "compatibility", which really is a load of nonsense. Plus, the fact Windows 7 only just got released officially, so even if the next OS version comes out with a variety of browsers, that's years down the track before it's released, plus all the users that'll stick with 7, Vista, and XP and will keep using IE... it'll still be around for a few years. The only good news is once it's not default, the % that'll actually go out of their way to use IE will be low. By that time I'll probably be out of the web game by then and won't get to enjoy the benefits
Depends on the software. A lot of Fortune 500 companies won't upgrade for that reason because the Microsoft software they run was coded to that browser and not the standard. The browser selection "ballot" will be part of a downloaded upgrade or service pack so current users will get that selection when it comes out which could be in a couple months. They will be forced to choose something and can't just click "cancel".
Only thing on our particular network was the intranet, which worked fine in all browsers given it was just tables. Excuse didn't fly in that instance. I just put portable FF on my USB, so no problems there for me They could still just click IE, which would probably be the choice for people who are still using IE and don't really know they have options. A lot of people still use XP too as the requirements for 7 are a lot higher - so if you've got some outdated equipment it's better to stick with XP and have it run smooth than upgrade to 7 but have a bit of lag/a bunch of features turned off. I've got a P4 3Ghz, 4GB of Ram, x300 graphics or something (whatever was the best I could get without upgrading the power supply) and it runs XP fine, would probably choke on 7 once it's got a few programs running. I prefer 7, but for usability's sake, I prefer XP on that comp (and it comes with IE6 Testing only though, I don't actually use it). Not even counting the fact the license for 7 costs more than the machine is worth!
I wouldn't know. I haven't used Windows in 5 years except for an old box with XP on it for testing in IE.