Microsoft: Over 2 million copies of IE9 beta downloaded in two days post launch

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In a post to a company blog on Monday, Roger Capriotti, a product management head on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) team, announced that over two million copies of the September 15-launched Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) beta, the first public beta of IE9, had been downloaded by users within two days of the launch.
Comparing the IE9 beta download figures with the August 2008-launched IE8 beta – which reportedly witnessed 1.3 million downloads over the first five days -, Capriotti also revealed that most early reviewers were all praises for the IE9’s minimalist design, hardware acceleration, and its tighter Windows 7 integration.
Sounding upbeat about IE9, Preston Gralla at Computerworld apparently voiced the opinion for most reviewers by stating that the changes that the IE9 boasts of have virtually “put IE back as a major competitor in the browser wars.”
Despite the fact that Microsoft has pegged two-day downloads of IE9 beta at more than 2 million, Web metrics vendors which track browser usage have still been unable to substantiate Microsoft's claim.
Vince Vizzaccaro, VP of the Aliso Viejo, California-based Net Applications, said: “I don't doubt what Microsoft is saying. But for last week, IE9 achieved a 0.07% global usage share.” Since Net Applications’ week ends Saturday, the 0.07 percent share is inclusive of the more than the first two days of IE9’s availability.

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