Microsoft will release new IE
Microsoft, in an apparent response to losing a few percentage points of its dominant market share among internet browsers, will release an updated version of its Internet Explorer browser sometime this year. It marks the first time a major new version of its ubiquitous browser will be released since the 6.0 version in October 2001.
According to an article in the Times of London, Internet Explorer once held a share of approximately 96 percent of the browser market -- a staggering figure -- and this was as little as two years ago. Today, with IE suffering from persistent security vulnerabilities and emerging competition from open-source browsers such as Firefox and Mozilla, Internet Explorer now holds about a 90 percent share, down about 3 percent in scarcely a year.
While a 90 percent market share is impressive for any company or business sector, the loss of just those six percentage points is what forced Microsoft's hand. The company is finally worried that its dominance in the browser market is eroding, and they want to stem the tide before it becomes a flood.
Open-source browsers are widely considered more secure, and offer features today's Internet Explorer cannot match, such as standards compliance, popup blocking, tabbed browsing, themes, cookie management, and spyware protections, to name just a few.
If IE had not faced this new competition, its version 6.0 browser would have remained unchanged and unchallenged -- a crappy browser without any reason to improve.
Just how significant will IE's improvements be, and will version 7.0 be enough to ease a growing discontent for the product? With its market share still dominant, Microsoft will be able to retain many of its user base, if simply because of reluctance to change.
But Microsoft now feels the challenge to produce a winner, because if version 7.0 isn't a significant enough leap from the previous IE, and can't at least approach the advances of Firefox and Mozilla, IE will see its market share continue to decline.
I, for one, savor the competition.
According to an article in the Times of London, Internet Explorer once held a share of approximately 96 percent of the browser market -- a staggering figure -- and this was as little as two years ago. Today, with IE suffering from persistent security vulnerabilities and emerging competition from open-source browsers such as Firefox and Mozilla, Internet Explorer now holds about a 90 percent share, down about 3 percent in scarcely a year.
While a 90 percent market share is impressive for any company or business sector, the loss of just those six percentage points is what forced Microsoft's hand. The company is finally worried that its dominance in the browser market is eroding, and they want to stem the tide before it becomes a flood.
Open-source browsers are widely considered more secure, and offer features today's Internet Explorer cannot match, such as standards compliance, popup blocking, tabbed browsing, themes, cookie management, and spyware protections, to name just a few.
If IE had not faced this new competition, its version 6.0 browser would have remained unchanged and unchallenged -- a crappy browser without any reason to improve.
Just how significant will IE's improvements be, and will version 7.0 be enough to ease a growing discontent for the product? With its market share still dominant, Microsoft will be able to retain many of its user base, if simply because of reluctance to change.
But Microsoft now feels the challenge to produce a winner, because if version 7.0 isn't a significant enough leap from the previous IE, and can't at least approach the advances of Firefox and Mozilla, IE will see its market share continue to decline.
I, for one, savor the competition.
posted by Administrator at 10:28 PM
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