Is IE7 Going To Save Microsoft's Face?
Microsoft has decided to release Internet Explorer 7 not bundled with its next release of Windows operating system called Longhorn in 2006. This should come handy as a separate product or as an add on considering the lawsuit that brought the Redmond, Washington based company to submission. Previously the company announced that the browser upgrade will be packaged with the Longhorn operating system.
That is not the main issue though. Constantly receiving complaints, media barrage and dwindling popularity due to security issues and support for world wide web standards change has to be made sooner.
In a "band aid" approach to address the problem, Microsoft released service packs to help avoid the onslaught of security problems like stealing pertinent information (credit card details, passwords). Microsoft's support to a wide range of web services make it a perfect target for hackers; for example, its support for ActiveX is a widely criticized move.
As people become more wary of online threats on the eve of booming e-commerce activity switching to less popular but safer browsers was a good decision. According to W3schools.com Internet Explorer browsers version 5 and 6 take about 69.2% in the market for February 2005, a drop of 0.7% last month. Meanwhile Mozilla Firefox has increased its share from 19.3% to 20% (the 0.7% increase is coincidental with IE's decline).
While most publications point to IE's set of loopholes in its browsers that keep phishing, popup windows displaying and slow page loading, it has its share of insufficient support to w3 standards for XHTML, XML and CSS. Developers have worried that the release of the new version would focus on addressing security issues and retaining problems with standardization. It may come obvious that Microsoft needs to release a counter to the ever increasing popularity of Firefox that dented the fortress Microsoft has lorded over the past decade.
Switching to other browsers bring allegiance to the erstwhile unattended features such as tabbed pages, better search interface which should come as a bonus to the security assurance and faster page loading.
One thing Microsoft has definite advantage over the others is its brand. Firefox or Opera may not be familiar to all, but Microsoft's blue "e" logo almost always symbolize the generic browser application and removing it could puzzle people who use the Internet cafes and browse. :)
That is not the main issue though. Constantly receiving complaints, media barrage and dwindling popularity due to security issues and support for world wide web standards change has to be made sooner.
In a "band aid" approach to address the problem, Microsoft released service packs to help avoid the onslaught of security problems like stealing pertinent information (credit card details, passwords). Microsoft's support to a wide range of web services make it a perfect target for hackers; for example, its support for ActiveX is a widely criticized move.
As people become more wary of online threats on the eve of booming e-commerce activity switching to less popular but safer browsers was a good decision. According to W3schools.com Internet Explorer browsers version 5 and 6 take about 69.2% in the market for February 2005, a drop of 0.7% last month. Meanwhile Mozilla Firefox has increased its share from 19.3% to 20% (the 0.7% increase is coincidental with IE's decline).
While most publications point to IE's set of loopholes in its browsers that keep phishing, popup windows displaying and slow page loading, it has its share of insufficient support to w3 standards for XHTML, XML and CSS. Developers have worried that the release of the new version would focus on addressing security issues and retaining problems with standardization. It may come obvious that Microsoft needs to release a counter to the ever increasing popularity of Firefox that dented the fortress Microsoft has lorded over the past decade.
Switching to other browsers bring allegiance to the erstwhile unattended features such as tabbed pages, better search interface which should come as a bonus to the security assurance and faster page loading.
One thing Microsoft has definite advantage over the others is its brand. Firefox or Opera may not be familiar to all, but Microsoft's blue "e" logo almost always symbolize the generic browser application and removing it could puzzle people who use the Internet cafes and browse. :)
posted by Unknown at
10:27 PM
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